Fans fill UW’s War Memorial Stadium during the 2025 football season. A new survey shows that 58 percent of Wyomingites attend at least one UW athletic contest each year, with 87 percent describing themselves as avid or casual fans. (UW Photo)
A large majority of Wyomingites say the University of Wyoming’s athletics programs
are important to the state’s identity and reputation, enhance UW’s prestige and visibility,
and should be supported by state funding, a new survey has found.
The survey of Wyoming residents was conducted by the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center
to gauge public perspectives on UW’s NCAA Division I athletics programs amid a rapidly
changing collegiate athletics landscape. The results show strong interest in and support
of UW Athletics.
“We have always known that Wyoming fans have a great deal of pride and passion for
our programs, but these survey results show a breadth of interest and support around
the state that goes even beyond what we expected,” says Tom Burman, UW’s director
of intercollegiate athletics. “It’s clear that the people of Wyoming are behind the
Cowboys and Cowgirls and want us to succeed at the highest levels possible.”
Among the findings:
-- Asked to what extent they agree UW athletics programs are a source of pride for
the state, 28 percent agreed, and 56 percent strongly agreed, for a total of 84 percent.
Just 6 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed.
-- Asked how important UW athletics programs are to the identity and reputation of
the state, 36 percent said “extremely important”; 29 percent said “very important”;
and 19 percent said “moderately important,” for a total of 84 percent. Just 16 percent
said “not at all important” or “slightly important.”
-- Asked to what extent they agree UW athletics programs enhance the visibility and
prestige of the university, 39 percent strongly agreed, and 34 percent agreed, for
a total of 73 percent. Just 9 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed.
The survey of 850 randomly selected Wyoming residents was conducted from Sept. 5-Nov.
25. A random sample of over 6,000 mailing addresses in the state was drawn, resulting
in a nearly equal probability of selection for all Wyoming households. The margin
of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. The final survey data have been weighted
to reflect the actual population distribution in Wyoming on sex, age and county of
residence.
Some 25 percent of Wyomingites describe themselves as avid, involved UW sports fans,
with 62 percent saying they’re casual fans, for a total of 87 percent. About 9 percent
of respondents said they follow UW sports extremely closely; 23 percent very closely;
and 35 percent somewhat closely, for a total of 67 percent. The programs with the
highest level of fan support, in order, are football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball,
rodeo, volleyball and wrestling.
Some 26 percent of respondents reported that they attend Cowboys and/or Cowgirls games
once a year; 21 percent attend a few times a year; and 11 percent attend many times
a year or nearly always for the sports they follow. A minority of 42 percent said
they don’t attend UW games in person, with travel distance and weather conditions
being the biggest factors.
The survey also gauged levels of support for state funding of UW Athletics, with these
findings:
-- Asked to what extent they agree that taxpayer funding of Cowboy and Cowgirl athletics
programs represents a good investment for the state, 34 percent agreed and 11 percent
strongly agreed, for a total of 45 percent. Disagreeing were 26 percent, with 29 percent
neutral.
-- Asked how strongly they support or oppose the use of state-appropriated dollars
to support UW athletics programs, 20 percent responded “strongly support” and 34 percent
said “support,” for a total of 54 percent. Opposing or strongly opposing were 17 percent,
with 30 percent neutral.
Since 2015, UW Athletics has received a $5 million annual legislative appropriation
that is used as matching funds for donations to the Cowboy Joe Club, UW Athletics’
booster club. The dollars are used only for purposes such as recruiting, team travel,
student-athlete nutrition and equipment. The dollars are not used for salaries or
construction.
Asked to what extent they agree it’s an appropriate use of state funds, 65 percent
strongly agreed or agreed; 17 percent strongly disagreed or disagreed; and 18 percent
were neutral. And 46 percent would support increasing state funding for those purposes
-- as long as it didn’t require a tax increase -- with 28 percent opposed and 26 percent
neutral.
Finally, the survey found that 81 percent of Wyomingites strongly agree that the state’s
bucking horse and rider logo is an important symbol of both the state and UW Athletics,
with an additional 11 percent agreeing. Just 4 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed.
In fact, some 81 percent say they own apparel or other merchandise featuring the bucking
horse and rider logo.
To see complete survey results and methodology, go here.
