Sharp-eyed Buffalo Bills fans weren’t mistaken when a Wyoming-themed banner appeared on their screens during the team’s first preseason game against the New York Giants on Saturday.
With the Bills driving inside the Giants’ 20-yard line with 9:29 left in the second quarter, a banner across the screen proclaimed they were in the “University of Wyoming Red Zone.”
Complete with the famous UW bucking horse logo, the targeted branding of the brown and gold continues a campaign of drawing attention to the university through its most famous alum, Bills quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen.
It won’t be the last time fans see the “University of Wyoming Red Zone” during Bills games this season, UW said in a Wednesday announcement.
The partnership increases brand awareness for UW and bolsters out-of-state student recruitment, the statement says.
Allen was drafted seventh overall by the Bills in 2018, making him the highest drafted player in school history. He has since gone on to participate in two Pro Bowls and was named the NFL’s most valuable player in 2024.
The partnership, which builds on momentum from UW’s 2025 Super Bowl ad, will see the school promoted across several in-stadium and digital marketing assets.
UW will also be named the official home game sponsor of the Bills’ Nov. 16 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
School officials also will be at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium ahead of that game to hand out cobranded merchandise and speak with prospective students.
A Place For Underdogs
Chad Baldwin, UW’s associate vice president for marketing and communications, told Cowboy State Daily the school spent $300,000 on the deal, which will designate UW as a “proud partner of the Bills” throughout the 2025-2026 NFL season.
He added the university hopes to establish a recruiting “pipeline” in western New York over several years and will gauge whether to continue or expand its efforts in the region based on the results of next year’s admissions class.
“We recruit students from across the country, and we’re always looking for places where we think we have an opportunity to augment a pipeline,” Baldwin said.
UW welcomed 43 students from New York in its fall 2024 class, a figure it expects will grow in the coming years as it capitalizes on Allen’s connection to his alma mater.
“Our feeling is that we have an opportunity, particularly in Western New York, because our most famous alum, Josh Allen, is a huge presence there,” Baldwin said. “His story, which involved UW in a big way, is very compelling and we feel like there are some common characteristics for students from that part of New York who, for instance, are used to tough winters.”
New York students, Baldwin added, may be particularly interested in UW given its lower cost of attendance compared to New York schools like Columbia, Cornell and New York University.
“It’s very similar to the pitch that we make to students from all over, which is that the University of Wyoming is a place where you can come and receive an opportunity to succeed with a level of attention you might not get anywhere else,” he said. “Our admissions standards are not excessively high.
“This is a place for people who might consider themselves underdogs.”
A Hall Of Fame Career
The partnership comes on the heels of an announcement that Allen will be inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame by his college coach, Craig Bohl.
Allen acknowledged the honor during a Tuesday press conference, adding that he owes much of his success to his time in Laramie.
“It’s very cool to be remembered there,” Allen said of his alma mater. “Coach Bohl and the University of Wyoming, obviously wouldn’t be here without them. It’s very cool to be honored by something so close and near to my heart and it’s a pretty cool achievement.”
As a Cowboy, Allen racked up 5,066 passing yards and 767 rushing yards. He was a two-time team captain and scored 57 touchdowns. The school in a February release lauded Allen as “the most popular and dynamic player ever to play at UW.”
Allen is the Bills’ most likely current player to one day be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, according to an August CBS Sports prediction.
The quarterback, it argued, could further solidify his case for enshrinement with a Super Bowl win. Allen has seven playoff wins, but has never appeared in the Super Bowl.
League Partnerships
The Bills are among other NFL teams that have developed relationships with the former schools of their top-tier talent.
The Kansas City Chiefs in 2020 inked a seven-year marketing partnership with Texas Tech University, the alma mater of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That deal sees Texas Tech’s “double T” logo displayed at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium and during TV broadcasts, among other promotions.
Mahomes’ personal “Gladiator” logo also became featured on Texas Tech’s Adidas football jerseys in 2024.
Oxford, Ohio’s Miami University in March also partnered with the Cincinnati Bengals. That deal honors Paul Brown, a 1930 alum of the school and founder of the Bengals franchise.
Miami students will benefit from the deal by receiving “exclusive opportunities to be involved with the Bengals through internships, job shadowing, on-campus speakers, and many other opportunities,” according to a team press release.
