After a record-breaking 11-3 2024 season, a Pop-Tart Bowl win, back-to-back Cy-Hawk wins and a Farmaggedon win in another country, Iowa State football has gained the attention of audiences worldwide and averaged 5.01 million viewers over its last five games.
“Winning helps,” Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. “We are sold out Saturday, so we have had 20 sellouts in the history of Iowa State and 18 of them have been since [Matt Campbell] has been here.”
The college football season as a whole, more specifically for the Cyclones, started in Week 0 against Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland, for the annual Aer Lingus Classic. Iowa State won 24-21 against the Wildcats and averaged 4.7 million viewers on ESPN.
The Cyclone Farmaggedon victory was down 20% from the Florida State and Georgia Tech game in 2024, where the match grabbed the attention of 4.99 million viewers. The Yellow Jackets won 24-21 against No. 10 Florida State and became the most-watched Week 0 game since 2019.
“The Big 12 sent us the economic report from the Ireland game, and Iowa State University got 1.8 billion impressions, 30,000 mentions during that week,” Pollard said. “And the cost, or the estimated value of that, if we were to try and buy that, was $189 million.”
As the fourth-straight season opener game in Ireland, Iowa State’s win outperformed the 2023 Aer Lingus Classic game between Navy and Notre Dame.
The Cyclones went on to play South Dakota, securing a 55-7 win. Later, they played Iowa on the Cyclones’ home turf, Jack Trice Stadium.
“What was amazing was our second game against South Dakota, which is an FCS school, which would normally be a lot lower in viewership, but it was on FOX,” Pollard said. “If you’re on Fox or ABC, you’re going to be close to 2 million; if you’re on ESPN, you’re going to be close to seven or eight hundred.”
Iowa State’s 16-13 Cy-Hawk victory marked the first time the Cyclones have won against Iowa in Jack Trice since 2011 and was showcased on the screen for 4,278,000 viewers and was the most-watched noon game on any network.
Before the in-state rivalry game, the Barstool Sports Pregame Show took place with a visit from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, along with the game televised by Big Noon Kickoff right outside of Jack Trice.
This season, Big Noon Saturday is up 52% in viewership, while the 11 a.m. Big Noon Kickoff broadcast has climbed 61%.
In the Cyclones’ most recent 24-16 victory over Arkansas State, the game brought on 523,000 viewers on ESPN2.
Now marked as 4-0 this season, Iowa State football is viewed by an average of 5.01 million viewers over its last five games, including the 42-41 win against Miami in the Pop-Tart Bowl. The Cyclones’ past three games have been watched by at least three million viewers.
“We are averaging like 2.3 million viewers a game, which we’ve never been remotely close to that,” Pollard said.
Before the Cyclone and Arizona game on Saturday, the Big 12’s current game average is 1.28 million viewers. Out of the 16 schools, Iowa State leads the pack with an average of 2.99 million viewers. Following close behind is Colorado with an average of 2.53 million viewers.
Pollard addressed that we have seen this growth of viewership dating back to the COVID year, when the Cyclones won the Big 12 regular season title. Then, in the following year, the Cyclones had current 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and current Jets running back Breece Hall on the Jack Trice gridiron, despite having a worse year, with a 5-4 conference record.
“In the last two years, we’re 15-3 and that’s the fifth-best record of all the teams in the country,” Pollard said. “We’ve basically been in the top 20 for the last two years. So every time we play, it’s a relevant game.”
After a bye week, Iowa State will head back to the gridiron at 6 p.m. Saturday, for its annual whiteout game against Arizona.
