Laramie, WY – A press release from the University of Wyoming Athletic Department states that “a study of media coverage surrounding the University of Wyoming Football program from August 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017 highlights the wide, national reach that Cowboy Football had during the 2017 college football season. The study estimates an exposure value of that media coverage at over $46 million”.
The release said that the research was conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan which is an independently owned and operated research company. The company has provided independent sports, special events and entertainment program evaluation since 1985.
“For years, I have wanted to quantify the value that Wyoming Football and Wyoming Athletics brings to the university and to the state of Wyoming,†said University of Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman. “With the resources and expertise of Joyce Julius & Associates, who specializes in these types of studies, we feel we are now able to document that value.
“This is about more than just the athletics department or the university brand, this is about the state of Wyoming’s brand and trying to measure our value within that brand.â€
The study evaluated media coverage of nationally televised games involving Cowboy Football, television news coverage, print media coverage and internet news coverage of Wyoming Football.  The $46,234,429 valuation placed on the media coverage is based on how much that exposure would cost in the open market if purchased at current advertising rates. The national television valuation in the study was calculated using a weighted formula, called Recognition Grade, which takes into account factors such as brand size on the screen, placement of the brand and clutter.
The release states that during the the 2017 season, Wyoming Football games provided 20 hours and 51 minutes of on-screen brand exposure for the university with 32,300 total combined media mentions or articles surrounding Cowboy Football. This is a combination of nationally-televised games, television news coverage, print news and internet news. The study also documented over 1.2 billion impressions (1,222,813,463) related to Wyoming Football over all the media platforms included in the study from August 1, 2017 to December. 31, 2017.
The release went on to state the value of the exposure was $13,641,963 from nationally televised Wyoming football games with an additional $1,995,877 in value coming from television news coverage of the Cowboys. A value of $7,661,346 was assigned to print media coverage of Wyoming Football, and a value of $22,935,243 was assigned to internet news coverage. The press release noted that internet news coverage did not include social media coverage through social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook.
