Most Valuable College Football Programs

On an annual basis Forbes values different professional sports franchises, both here in the U.S. and in Europe. Recently Forbes updated its college football programs valuations.

The most “profitable” college football program is the University of Texas. They are not playing for the national title this year, but off the field they are the best team in college. Forbes estimates that the Longhorns football program generated $82 million in revenue last season. $30 million came from donations by alumni and fans to get in line for season tickets. Another $33 million came from ticket sales to seven home games at the newly expanded Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which now fits 101,000 fans. Sponsorship agreements with the likes of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo’s and Gatorade generated another $842,000. Nike paid $1 million to adorn Longhorns jerseys with its swoosh logo.

With these different revenue streams, Forbes values the Texas program at t $119 million, $11 million more than second-ranked University of Notre Dame.

How much is a good coach worth? The University of Alabama, which will play for the national title game this year has seen its valuation of $92 million grow by more than is 31% since it hired Nick Saban in 2007.

As with most professional franchises, TV deals play a large part in team valuations and it is no surprise that 18 of the 20 teams on the Forbes list come from the Southeastern, Big 12 and Big Ten conferences, which all have high paying long-term TV deals.

Top 20 Most Valuable College Football Programs

1. University of Texas: $119 million valuation – $59 million profit
2. Notre Dame: $108 million – $38 million
3. Penn State: $99 million valuation – $50 million profit
4. Nebraska: $93 million valuation – $49 million profit
5. Alabama: $92 million valuation – $38 million profit
6. Florida Gators: $88 million valuation – $41 million profit
7. LSU: $86 million valuation – $39 million profit
8. Ohio State: $85 million valuation – $36 million profit
9. Georgia: $84 million valuation – $45 million profit
10. Oklahoma: $83 million valuation – $40 million profit
11. Michigan: $81 million valuation – $34 million profit
12. South Carolina: $80 million valuation – $37 million profit
13. Tennessee: $78 million valuation – $29 million profit
14. Auburn: $70 million valuation – $30 million profit
15. USC: $68 million valuation – $33 million profit
16. Michigan State: $57 million valuation – $28 million profit
17. Arkansas: $56 million valuation – $20 million profit
18. Texas A&M: $52 million valuation – $22 million profit
19. Wisconsin: $48 million valuation – $17 million profit
20. Oklahoma State: $47 million valuation – $18 million profit