Ferd Lewis: ESPN helped Boise State become a brand name

BOISE, Idaho >> ESPN doesn’t have an office here, but its cameras and crews spend so much time in this inter-mountain outpost that it probably should.

If there were an actual ivy and brick ESPN U. — a school, not a cable channel — it would be the one here along the wooded banks of the Boise River.

The Broncos have been the apple of the ESPN camera’s eye for nearly 20 years now, featured on as many as 10 appearances a season, including being booked for at least eight this year. To put it in perspective, Saturday’s game with the Broncos on ESPN2 will be one of just two on ESPN platforms for the University of Hawaii in this regular season.

So, if the Rainbow Warriors, 4-1 and yearning for rarefied air, want to make a splash this season, this is the time, the place and definitely the stage.

You need only look at the blueprint of the host, the 5-0 and 14th-ranked Broncos, to see how Boise has built its success and polished its brand on the network.

Ask former Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson about Boise State’s path to becoming a leader among non-Power Five conference schools and he’ll tell you it is a combination of the continuity of football coaches, the vision of its administrators and its timing with ESPN.

Fresh from the Big West, the Broncos’ almost nonexistent TV profile changed dramatically in 2001, their first year of WAC membership, with a 35-30 upset of then-eighth-ranked Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium on ESPN.

“From that point the Boise State-Fresno State rivalry was on,” Benson recalled. “When would a (coach) Pat Hill team ever beat Boise State?”

Soon after, Boise State acquired another rival in UH and June Jones. But the Broncos, who won eight conference titles between 2002 and 2010, with only Hawaii interrupting the string in the Sugar Bowl season of 2007, drove WAC TV and the rights fees.

“From that first game in 2001 at Fresno State to the advent of Friday night games, which I believe was really big, Boise State became an ESPN darling,” Benson said. “Boise State owned Friday nights.”

Thursday nights, Friday nights, Saturday nights. Whatever night of the week ESPN needed an attraction, the Broncos came ready. Usually on their blue Smurf turf that, thanks to the weekly presence of ESPN cameras, became iconic.

“We became a favorite of ESPN because we were fun to watch — and were winning,” said former Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier. “I think we won like 90% of those games.”

When Boise State went looking for a bigger pond to swim in, the Mountain West was only too glad to open its doors as ESPN and TV money followed and the WAC’s dropped off.

When Boise State sought still greener pastures, opting to join the Big East, the MWC braced for the ripple effects. But as the Big East began to fracture, the MWC quickly went on bent knee in offering the Broncos a lucrative side deal to come back.

Under terms still in place, Boise State home games are sold to ESPN as a separate package that nets the Broncos $1.8 million off the top annually. Boise State also shares in the overall conference pool, adding another $1.1 million.

UH does not share in any of that revenue but is permitted to retain approximately $2.5 million from its local Spectrum deal.

The Warriors get a rare opportunity Saturday, one that would be too good to miss out on.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.