by staff–15 Jan ’18
A study of media coverage surrounding the University of Wyoming Football program from Aug. 1, 2017 through Dec. 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 research was conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., an independently owned and operated research company that 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.”
The benefits of successful athletics programs and the exposure they attract has been shown to improve overall student recruitment on college campuses across the country, increase alumni support and enhance fundraising. The investment in University of Wyoming Athletics in recent years, through a commitment from donors and the Wyoming State Legislature, has paid dividends in increased success for Wyoming Athletics, which has led directly to the enhanced exposure of the athletics department, the university and the state of Wyoming. That investment and the increased exposure have also created an atmosphere around Cowboy and Cowgirl Athletics that has stimulated more interest from alumni and donors, including the growth of the Cowboy Joe Club to over 5,000 members, making it the largest annual athletics scholarship fund membership in the Mountain West Conference.
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.
Overview of the Media Coverage
Wyoming Football games in the 2017 season provided 20 hours and 51 minutes of on-screen brand exposure for the university. There were 32,300 total combined media mentions or articles surrounding Cowboy Football in the fall of 2017 between nationally-televised games, television news coverage, print news and internet news. And the study documented over 1.2 billion impressions (1,222,813,463) related to Wyoming Football over all the media platforms included in the study from Aug. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017.
Value of the Media Coverage
Included in the total was $13,641,963 of value from nationally televised Wyoming football games in the fall of 2017. An additional $1,995,877 in value came 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 internet news coverage did not include social media coverage through social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook.
Televised Games
Wyoming identity appeared clear and in-focus for 20 hours and 51 minutes throughout its nationally televised games during the 2017 football season. A weighted value of $13,641,963 was placed on that exposure through national telecasts of Wyoming games on networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, CBS Sports Network, AT&T SportsNet and the Big Ten Network.
The weighted methodology (Recognition Grade methodology) that Joyce Julius uses to value national television coverage, takes into account detailed factors such as the: size of a school’s brand identity included in each element of the TV coverage; screen position; brand clutter; and any applicable brand integration.
It is worth noting that the value of the exposure Wyoming Football received through nationally televised games during the 2017 season, if valued purely at 30-second commercial rates charged during those telecasts, would equate to $27,607,239 per Joyce Julius’ study. The weighted value of $13,641,963 that Joyce Julius calculated is what the firm deems a more accurate and precise value based on the various digitally-measured factors mentioned earlier.
Television News Coverage
In addition to live television coverage of Wyoming Football games in 2017, a valuation of nearly $2 million ($1,995,877) was placed on television coverage in 1,565 news programs around the country that made mention of Wyoming Football in their programming. Joyce Julius contracted with Cision Ltd., which reviews news programming appearing in all 210 U.S. television markets, to monitor Wyoming Football exposure on television. Those television news organizations included the likes of ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports Network and NFL Network, as well as regional and local television stations across the country.
Print Media Coverage
A total of 10,327 mentions or articles in print publications were tracked in the study, with a value of $7,661,346 placed on that print media exposure by national, regional and local print publications. Nexis, a company that monitors more than 3,000 U.S. and Canadian daily and weekly publications, provided information to Joyce Julius regarding the number of mentions of Wyoming Football. Among the publications covering Cowboy Football were: Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, along with numerous regional and local publications.
Internet Media Coverage
And 19,359 internet news stories about Cowboy Football, not including social media, were documented by the study, with a value of $22,935,243 placed on stories through internet news sites. Cision Ltd., was also utilized by Joyce Julius to capture internet news coverage. Included in the internet sites that covered the Cowboys were: BleacherReport.com, CNBC.com, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, NYPost.com, SBNation.com, TheAthletic.com, USAToday.com, WashingtonPost.com and Yahoo.com, as well as many local and regional internet sites.
Summary of Media Exposure for University of Wyoming Football (From Aug. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017)
Exposure Source Exposure Time Mentions/Articles Impressions Exposure Value
National Television 20 hours, 51 minutes 1,049 3,066,883 $13,641,963
Television News NA 1,565 74,571,725 1,995,877
Print Media NA 10,327 283,543,538 7,661,346
Internet News NA 19,359 861,631,317 22,935,243
Totals 20 hours, 51 minutes 32,300 1,222,813,463 $46,234,429
About the Study and Joyce Julius & Associates
University of Wyoming Athletics contracted with Joyce Julius and Associates at a cost of $20,650 to conduct the study in order to gain a better understanding of the media coverage that Wyoming Football was attracting on a national level and to obtain a value of that media exposure.
Joyce Julius and Associates has developed and perfected fully customizable products that have become the industry standard in exposure measurement. Among its other sports industry clients are: Chick-fil-A, Clemson University, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the University of Colorado, ESPN Events, the Golden State Warriors, the Mid-American Conference, the NCAA, Rutgers University, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the TaxSlayer Bowl, Temple University, the Valero Alamo Bowl and the West Coast Conferen
