PROVO — It’s been 10 years since BYU announced it was going independent in football and entering into a partnership with ESPN.
The Cougars became the first FBS program to sign an exclusive media rights partnership with ESPN to televise its home games.
What kind of exposure has BYU enjoyed since that time?
From 2011-19, BYU played 71 regular-season games and nine bowl games on an ABC/ESPN television network (an average of almost nine games per season). Nine additional games were simulcast on ESPN3. Meanwhile, 38 of those 71 ABC/ESPN regular season games (54%) drew at least a million television viewers, according to the school.
Since 2011, 74% of BYU’s football games have been televised nationally. That puts BYU No. 18 nationally and No. 3 in the West, only behind USC and Stanford. Utah tied for 52nd and Utah State tied for 67th.
During the 2019 campaign, BYU’s average viewership on ABC/ESPN was 2.2 million against Power Five opponents while its overall average in all games was 1.4 million.
The Cougars will be on a national stage when they open the 2020 season at Navy on Labor Day Night on ESPN.
Since going independent, BYU has played 43 games against Power Five opponents, including 21 from the Pac-12, six from the Southeastern Conference, six from the Big Ten, four from the Atlantic Coast Conference, four from the Big 12 and two against Notre Dame.
Also since 2011, BYU has faced foes from 32 states, played in nine National Football League stadiums and a pair of Major League Baseball stadiums.