On July 1, 2026, Texas State University made the transition to the Pac-12 conference after spending 12 seasons in the Sunbelt conference. This change has definitely made a positive impact on viewership and growth on Texas State athletics.
Difference in Viewership from 2025 to 2026
There was a huge increase in viewers from the total regular-season views of 2025 to the views of the first four games of the 2026 season. The numbers shown below are in the 100,000’s range.
These numbers came from Texas State University’s President Kelly Damphousse’s post on Facebook on October 10th where he quoted numbers from ESPNU and ESPN2 views from the games in 2025, and numbers from The CW and USA Network from the games in 2026.
Sunbelt Successes
In the 2025-26 season, there were many athletic successes achieved in the final season in the Sunbelt conference that will hopefully continue into the next few seasons.
- Vic Bubas Cup Winner
- Conference Championships
- Softball (regular season)
- Volleyball (tournament)
- Women’s Indoor Track & Field
- Women’s Outdoor Track & Field
- Men’s Outdoor Track & Field
- Top 4 Finishes
- Football
- Women’s Soccer
- Men’s Indoor Track & Field
- Women’s Tennis
Key Drivers for 2026 Growth
This is the first Pac-12 season for Texas State athletics, and there are many opportunities for growth to come in the next few years.
Viewership baseline data sourced from Nielsen Media Research (2025–2026); attribution weights modeled from sports industry media distribution and audience retention metrics following Texas State’s 2026 Pac-12 transition. The percentage breakdown represents an analytical model weighting the mechanical drivers (network carriage/conference) against behavioral audience retention (on-field playstyle) using Nielsen’s overall growth framework.
