Utah State University’s athletics department announced its latest initiative aimed at moving the Aggies into the modern era of collegiate sports. Titled as the Show Me Initiative, it sets new targets for both fundraising and community engagement which will help Utah State stand up for itself in a time where budgets for college athletics departments around the country are ballooning.
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â Utah State Athletics (@USUAthletics) January 28, 2026
This new initiative is an expansion upon what USU began with its Reach and Rise campaign announced last summer as a five-year plan to raise $125 million for the athletics department. The primary difference, or addition, with the Show Me initiative is that it is more than just fundraising. It targets goals in season ticket sales and number of sponsorships for the athletics department in addition to goals surrounding fundraising and membership in its Blue A Society and Big Blue Club.
Currently, Utah State has approximately 80 direct sponsors for athletics, 100 members of its Blue A Society (which requires a $5,000 per year donation with a five-year commitment) and 1,400 members of its Big Blue Club (which requires a $50 per year donation). There are also roughly 6,800 season ticket holders for football with room to grow, unlike with men’s basketball where the Aggies sold out their allotment of season tickets for the first time in program history.
The Show Me initiative sets both six-month and 18-month goals for increasing all of those benchmarks, along with a fundraising goal. After six months, or by Aug. 1, USU wants to increase its total number of business sponsorship deals to 90, its Blue A Society membership to 135, Big Blue Club membership to 1,800 and to have 8,000 football season ticket holders. Along with that are goals to again sell out its men’s basketball season ticket allotment and raise $20 million in cash and pledges.
The 18-month goals at to have 125 businesses sponsoring athletics, 200 Blue A Society members, 3,000 Big Blue Club members, 10,000 football season ticket holders and to have sold out men’s basketball season tickets three years in a row plus $42 million in total cash and pledges (the $20 million from the six-month benchmark being included in that total).
Utah State Athletics Department Show Me Initiative Goals
| Category | Current | 6-Month Goal | 18-Month Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics Sponsors | 80 | 90 | 125 |
| Blue A Society Members | 100 | 135 | 200 |
| Big Blue Club Members | 1,400 | 1,800 | 3,000 |
| Football Season Ticket Holders | 6,800 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
In an interview with Cache Valley Daily, Utah State Vice President and Director of Athletics Cam Walker said he wants to see the university rise the ranks of the Pac-12 when it comes to total revenue. According to data from the Knight Commission On Intercollegiate Athletics, which collects data on total revenue and its sources for public universities, Utah State ranks seventh in revenue among current and future full-member institutions of the Pac-12. USU’s revenue for the 2024 fiscal year was $55.8 million, only ahead of Texas State ($43.8 million) and under the average of $74.8 million for the entire conference ($71.8 million including non-football member Gonzaga).
Pac-12 Current/Future Member 2024 FY Total Revenue
| School | Total Revenue |
|---|---|
| Oregon State | $120,312,417 |
| San Diego State | $91,423,101 |
| Washington State | $89,459,572 |
| Colorado State | $73,501,380 |
| Boise State | $68,357,435 |
| Fresno State | $56,065,439 |
| Utah State | $55,771,008 |
| Texas State | $43,807,365 |
| PAC-12 AVERAGE | $74,837,215 |
“We’ve got to get ourselves into that upper half,” Walker said. “This initiative in 18 months is not going to transform us, but I think we may get around that fourth or fifth mark. But then there will be a new iteration after that. I’m not going to be satisfied with being fourth or fifth. But I do think that we’ve got to drive ourselves into that space so that we can assess and see what that does for us competitively. And then make some decisions from there.”
The tricky part with getting into the upper half is that the rest of the conference won’t be standing still. Even as Utah State announces fundraising and outreach initiatives, its Pac-12 rivals will do the same. Colorado State currently has its “Path to the Pac-12” goals and Texas State is working on its “Light the Star” campaign. Utah State not only has to break its own fundraising records, it has to outpace other schools that are setting their own records while also making sure USU is more efficient with its money than others are.
“If they’re going to get 2x on their return, we got to get 3x on ours. But we also have to make sure that we’re operating more efficient and more strategic than the rest as well,” Walker said. “We’re not just going to be able to chase them down in the money. We’ve got to chase them down and be smarter about how we’re investing it and how we’re applying the money. And so certainly we’re announcing and showing the external goals. But there’s a lot of internal goals. And we’re asking each division ‘How can we spend all this money smarter and more effectively so that we can be more competitive than ever?'”
Aside from just raw fundraising, there are two particular areas of revenue growth that Utah State hasn’t tapped into as much as it could, or at least not nearly as much as its Pac-12 peers. Those two areas are ticket revenue and corporate sponsorships and the Show Me initiative attacks both problems.
According to the Knight Commission data, USU ranked 10th out of 11 full-member Mountain West schools in ticket revenue for the fiscal year 2024, bringing in $2,741,487 in total ticket sales. The conference average for that year was just over $6 million with San Diego State at the top, tallying just under $9 million in ticket revenue. A big driver in Utah State falling behind is that it ranked eighth in combined total attendance for football and men’s basketball.
Looking at just the Pac-12, the Aggies would rank second-to-last among full-member institutions, ahead of only Texas State ($1.6 million) and well behind the average of future Pac-12 schools of roughly $7 million.
Pac-12 Future/Current Member 2024 FY Ticket Revenue
| School | Ticket Sales |
|---|---|
| Oregon State | $13,002,945 |
| Washington State | $9,840,616 |
| San Diego State | $8,842,022 |
| Boise State | $7,994,022 |
| Fresno State | $6,949,798 |
| Colorado State | $5,247,837 |
| Utah State | $2,741,487 |
| Texas State | $1,615,130 |
| PAC- 12 AVERAGE | $7,029,232 |
As for sponsorships, according to the same Knight Commission data, USU reportedly only brought in $956,803 in corporate sponsorship, advertising, licensing for its athletics department. It’s the lowest number of any conference member and is made worse by the fact that the rest of the Pac-12 schools are almost exclusively pulling at least $4 million and as much as $10 million.
Pac-12 Current/Future Member 2024 FY Sponsorship Revenue
| School | Sponsorship Revenue |
|---|---|
| Oregon State | $10,507,924 |
| San Diego State | $9,353,698 |
| Boise State | $7,446,810 |
| Colorado State | $6,547,939 |
| Washington State | $4,259,972 |
| Fresno State | $4,089,626 |
| Texas State | $1,307,623 |
| Utah State | $956,803 |
| PAC-12 AVERAGE | $5,558,799 |
Looking at the first of those two shortcomings, Utah State’s intended methods of increasing ticket revenue â primarily through season ticket purchases as the initiative’s goals outline â revolve around a few different principles that Walker outlined. He spoke about making the environment around Merlin Olsen Field “elite,” which includes ensuring it is “family friendly” and also an “incredible experience” for those who come. It’s something Walker outlined back when he was introduced as the new director of athletics.
“We need everybody here and we need to make it an event that they want to come to and when they come they need to have a blast,” Walker said in his Sept. 24 introductory press conference. “We’ve got some work to on our side, and we’re going to have to ask them to come out and show up and be here and support us. Because it’s an incredible venue, but we’ve got to provide a situation where they want to be here.”
Part of the work Walker and the department are putting in to this effort is making games more affordable to fans and to have a price point for anyone interested in participating in Aggie sporting events.
According to Walker, the low-end price for football season ticket holders will be “less than $100” which would instantly make it one of the most affordable season ticket prices in the nation among FBS teams. Last season, the cheapest set of season tickets sold by Utah State went for $168. Single-game tickets typically didn’t go for under $35 outside of buying in bulk (usually 10+ to trigger a discount to $30 per ticket) or through a few promotions. But the get-in price should go down as well this year.
Getting fans through the gates and into seats is trumping milking them for as much money as possible.
“We felt like that was the right thing to do for this community as we try and build a fan base and get some of our younger families to be able to have an access point,” Walker said.
Lower pricing on tickets won’t be universal for all sections, though, mainly just those that aren’t selling as much (like the south end zone or the upper east side). Sections like the west side of the stadium, which have already been notably more expensive, could still see a price increase.
Looking back at corporate sponsorships, the Logan metro area isn’t the exactly the most robust source of those, even though its economic footprint is growing. However, Walker has a vision of getting every local business involved at some level if he can while also looking to the Wasatch Front and beyond.
“Imagine if every business in Logan did participate at some level, at a level that’s comfortable for them. Then I think it is sustainable,” Walker said. “But I also think we’ve got to do a better job with national sponsors, as well as down on the Wasatch Front. I don’t think those are mutually exclusive. I think we have to attack all those avenues. But I do think we’ve got to get to a point where there’s like this community pride of ‘maybe I can only do $1,000 a year in a sponsorship. But I’m committed to making that happen. Because I know that I do better when the university and athletics are doing better.'”
Overall, with both ticket sales and sponsorships, Walker said they are focussing “more on numbers than we are on the dollar amount,” which is why the goals in the initiative don’t specify revenue generated from tickets or sponsorships and instead focus on getting the whole community involved.
“We felt like we’ve just got to get awareness about this and drive people to it and find where we can meet them to kind of bring them along,” Walker said.
One aspect of Utah State’s revenue not directly related to this initiative, but that will be happening while it is being rolled out is an anticipated jump in conference payouts by joining the Pac-12. The Mountain West paid the Aggies roughly $4 million per year and that number is expected to go up with the new Pac-12’s new TV deal that includes partnerships with CBS, The CW and USA Network. Rumors and speculation have put that number anywhere between $8-15 million per year. Walker didn’t disclose any specific, though it seems the dollar amounts are not on the high end of those estimates.
“The few years in the (media deal) are a little lean,” Walker said. “Not worse than where we were, but a little leaner than maybe we anticipated.”
Although the payout from the media deal is less than what was hoped for, the trade-off for the smaller dollar amount is that Pac-12 schools will have most of their football and men’s basketball games played on networks that reach effectively 100% of households in the United States.
A minimum of around 160 games between football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball will be broadcast on CBS, The CW or USA Network. That’s not including what is currently an unknown number of football and men’s basketball games previously reported to be televised on CBS Sports Network. All CBS games will also be streamed on Paramount+ alongside the televised broadcast.
Here’s the quick rundown and summary of how many games are expected to be aired on TV.
- Minimum of 3 football regular season games on CBS
- Football conference championship game on CBS
- 13 regular season football games on The CW
- 22 regular season football games on USA Network
- Minimum of 3 regular season men’s basketball games on CBS
- Men’s conference tournament championship game on CBS
- 35 regular season men’s basketball games on The CW
- 50 regular season men’s basketball games on USA Network
- A to-be-determined number of football and men’s basketball regular season games on CBS Sports Network
- 15 regular season women’s basketball games on The CW
- 5-10 regular season women’s basketball games on USA Network
- Women’s basketball conference tournament semifinals and championship game on The CW
The benefit from having these games on linear television comes mainly from the exposure. Being accessible to virtually anyone with a TV in their home is something that has value even if it means a smaller number being added directly to USU’s bank account from the Pac-12.
“The key to the (Pac-12) is the growth and the opportunities for growth. And there’s just tremendous upside, what it will do for our brand and sponsors,” Walker said. “When all of our games are on linear television for football and men’s basketball, that’s impactful on what that means for sponsorship and revenue opportunities. So I think there’s a lot of opportunity moving forward in the Pac-12.”
