A year-long study by The Nielsen Company revealed that WKU Athletics generated $44 million in total media value during the 2023-24 athletic season, marking the first year under the new Conference USA television deal with ESPN and CBS Sports.
“Our nationally televised games provided invaluable exposure for our sport programs, student-athletes, university, sponsorship partners, Bowling Green, and Warren County,” said Athletic Director Todd Stewart. “We recognize the responsibility our Athletics department holds as the front porch of the University. Appearing on national television 18 times and generating $44 million in media exposure underscores the importance and relevance of these games for our university and its many stakeholders.”
The study highlighted that approximately $41 million of this value came from television brand exposure, with nearly $3 million generated from earned media and owned social media throughout the year.
During 2023-24, the Hilltoppers appeared on National Television 18 different times, as well as mainstream streaming platforms 168 times:
- FOX (1 game)
- Football at Ohio State
- TBS (1)
- Men’s Basketball vs. Marquette (NCAA Tournament)
- ESPN (2)
- Football at Louisiana Tech
- Football vs. Old Dominion (Famous Toastery Bowl)
- ESPNU (5)
- Football at Troy
- Football at Jacksonville State
- Football vs. Liberty
- Men’s Basketball vs. Middle Tennessee
- Women’s Basketball vs. Middle Tennessee (first nationally televised game since 2016)
- CBS Sports Network (9)
- Football vs. South Florida
- Football vs. Middle Tennessee
- Men’s Basketball vs. Liberty
- Men’s Basketball vs. Jacksonville State
- Men’s Basketball vs. Sam Houston
- Men’s Basketball vs. UTEP
- Men’s Basketball vs. Middle Tennessee (CUSA Semifinals)
- Men’s Basketball vs. UTEP (CUSA Championship)
- Softball vs. Liberty (CUSA Championship)
- ESPN+ (154)
- SEC Network+ (7)
- Big Ten Network+ (5)
- ACC Network+ (2)
WKU Football will begin the 2024 season in primetime on ESPN at Alabama on Aug. 31. The Hilltoppers are also scheduled to play on ESPN2 twice, ESPNU and CBS Sports Network once during the 2024 football season.
1 Nielsen’s proprietary data measures audience value, with the final media exposure value determined by how much an entity would need to spend in advertising dollars to receive the same amount of exposure that was generated.
