It was played at the leading indoor sports venue in town, The Arena/Checkerdome and Kiel/Savvis/Scottrade/Enterprise Center and used to be a huge television draw. The 1989 game, which was shown on KMOV (Channel 4), was seen in 20.9 percent of the homes in the market. By comparison, that’s better than some Cardinals early-round playoff games have done in recent seasons.
Throughout this century, the matchup has been a staple in the holiday season schedule for ESPN or ESPN2, with ESPN2 showing the matchcup 14 times and ESPN on three occasions.
But the game two years ago being relegated to lower profile ESPNU as interest the event — and attendance — was dwindling.