Cameron Hunsaker

BYU's athletic department was valued at $500M+ and its football program at $366M+ as of late 2025, and the Cougars brought in more than $153 million in revenue in just their second year in the Big 12, all while collecting only a partial conference revenue share. They've become one of the fastest-rising brands in the league. Rewind and the setup makes sense...For more than a decade, BYU ran as a football independent with ESPN as its media home, a rare deal that put a single program in national windows on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. It gave the Cougars a national brand most non-power schools never get close to. When BYU joined the Big 12, that ESPN deal folded into the conference's broader media rights, and the program traded some of its old autonomy for security, revenue and a seat at the Power Four table. The brand has only grown since. Here's why I'm incredibly bullish on BYU specifically. Most people look at that fan base and see television ratings. I see buying power. BYU has one of the largest, most loyal and most nationally connected followings in college sports, and that base does far more than show up on game day. Alumni, families and businesses tied to the community spend, hire and buy all year round, which adds up to an enormous amount of collective economic activity. Turn a passionate national base like that into real economic value and you have a commercial engine most programs can only dream about. BYU is built for exactly that, and it goes well beyond media rights and ticket sales. I'd bet on BYU's trajectory over the next few cycles. The media platform gave the Cougars national reach...their people are what turn that reach into staying power. I'm as bullish on BYU as any brand in college sports right now. @BYUCougars