What the top 75 college sports programs are worth

2 days ago

With major college sports programs collectively generating billions in revenue each year, private investors are looking to get a piece of the action.

But how much is a college sports program worth?

It's a question CNBC set out to answer after speaking with people in the private equity world who are seeking to invest in college sports.

Below, CNBC ranks the 75 most valuable college athletic programs. The rankings exclude military academies and are limited to schools that participate in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, which tend to attract top players.

Ohio State University is the most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $1.27 billion. The Buckeyes had $280 million in revenue in 2023, the most of any school. Other factors that helped propel the Buckeyes to the top of the rankings are an alumni base of over 600,000, a fan base of more than 11 million, boosters that donated nearly $60 million last year, and a football team that routinely has attendance of over 100,000 at its games.

It isn't surprising that the top of the list is dominated by SEC and Big Ten schools — due largely to each conference's massive media rights deals.

In aggregate, the SEC is worth $13.3 billion, an average of $832 million per school; followed by the Big Ten at $13.2 billion, an average of $734 million per school; the ACC at $9.6 billion, or $562 million per school; and the Big 12, at $6.7 billion, or $420 million per school.

The information used to compile the valuations comes courtesy of Jason Belzer, publisher of AthleticDirectorU, who has advised universities on name, image and likeness deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity. AthleticDirectorU has an expansive database of college athletic program financials and information.

The revenue figures are from the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics Data Analysis and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for the fiscal year 2023. The list is reflective of the current enterprise value of each program, starting with a base revenue multiple of four for all institutions, and then adjusting the multiple for variables, including conference affiliation, estimated NIL spend, school subsidies, number of alumni and other factors that can catalyze future revenue growth and profitability.

CNBC and Belzer also incorporated the expertise of several people knowledgeable about athletic program valuations to determine the rankings, who requested anonymity in order to discuss details of the programs.

College Athletics Valuations 2024

Rank	Program	Valuation	Revenue	Conference	City	Ownership
1.	Ohio State University	$1.32B	$280M	Big Ten	Columbus, OH	public
2.	University of Texas at Austin	$1.28B	$271M	SEC	Austin, TX	public
3.	Texas A&M University	$1.26B	$279M	SEC	College Station, TX	public
4.	University of Michigan	$1.06B	$230M	Big Ten	Ann Arbor, MI	public
5.	University of Alabama	$978M	$200M	SEC	Tuscaloosa, AL	public
6.	University of Notre Dame	$969M	$224M	ACC	Notre Dame, IN	private
7.	University of Georgia	$950M	$210M	SEC	Athens, GA	public
8.	University of Nebraska	$943M	$205M	Big Ten	Lincoln, NE	public
9.	University of Tennessee	$940M	$202M	SEC	Knoxville, TN	public
10.	University of Oklahoma	$928M	$199M	SEC	Norman, OK	public
11.	Penn State University	$924M	$202M	Big Ten	University Park, PA	public
12.	University of Southern California	$923M	$212M	Big Ten	Los Angeles, CA	private
13.	Louisiana State University	$916M	$200M	SEC	Baton Rouge, LA	public
14.	University of Florida	$865M	$189M	SEC	Gainesville, FL	public
15.	University of Wisconsin	$838M	$198M	Big Ten	Madison, WI	public
16.	Clemson University	$800M	$196M	ACC	Clemson, SC	public
17.	University of Oregon	$780M	$151M	Big Ten	Eugene, OR	public
18.	University of Arkansas	$776M	$167M	SEC	Fayetteville, AR	public
19.	University of Kentucky	$775M	$174M	SEC	Lexington, KY	public
20.	Auburn University	$772M	$195M	SEC	Auburn, AL	public
21.	University of Iowa	$747M	$167M	Big Ten	Iowa City, IA	public
22.	Michigan State University	$740M	$171M	Big Ten	East Lansing, MI	public
23.	Stanford University	$687M	$180M	ACC	Stanford, CA	private
24.	Florida State University	$673M	$170M	ACC	Tallahassee, FL	public
25.	University of Illinois	$665M	$148M	Big Ten	Champaign, IL	public
26.	Duke University	$659M	$153M	ACC	Durham, NC	private
27.	University of Washington	$658M	$152M	Big Ten	Seattle, WA	public
28.	Indiana University	$653M	$145M	Big Ten	Indianapolis, IN	public
29.	University of Mississippi	$651M	$142M	SEC	Oxford, MS	public
30.	University of South Carolina	$650M	$160M	SEC	Columbia, SC	public
31.	University of Miami	$639M	$160M	ACC	Coral Gables, FL	private
32.	University of Minnesota	$637M	$149M	Big Ten	Minneapolis, MN	public
33.	Texas Tech University	$619M	$147M	Big 12	Lubbock, TX	public
34.	University of Louisville	$595M	$143M	ACC	Louisville, KY	public
35.	University of Missouri	$590M	$142M	SEC	Columbia, MO	public
36.	North Carolina State University	$581M	$121M	ACC	Raleigh, NC	public
37.	Purdue University	$567M	$124M	Big Ten	West Lafayette, IN	public
38.	University of Kansas	$553M	$128M	Big 12	Lawrence, KS	public
39.	Vanderbilt University	$551M	$125M	SEC	Nashville, TN	private
40.	Texas Christian University	$542M	$149M	Big 12	Fort Worth, TX	private
41.	UNC-Chapel Hill	$539M	$139M	ACC	Chapel Hill, NC	public
42.	University of Arizona	$532M	$143M	Big 12	Tucson, AZ	public
43.	University of Pittsburgh	$524M	$137M	ACC	Pittsburgh, PA	public
44.	Mississippi State University	$523M	$116M	SEC	Starkville, MS	public
45.	Baylor University	$513M	$137M	Big 12	Waco, TX	private
46.	University of Virginia	$506M	$141M	ACC	Charlottesville, VA	public
47.	Oklahoma State University	$500M	$122M	Big 12	Stillwater, OK	public
48.	Georgia Tech	$498M	$134M	ACC	Atlanta, GA	public
49.	Iowa State University	$492M	$116M	Big 12	Ames, IA	public
50.	Syracuse University	$487M	$114M	ACC	Syracuse, NY	private
51.	Northwestern University	$486M	$118M	Big Ten	Evanston, IL	private
52.	University of Maryland	$477M	$121M	Big Ten	College Park, MD	public
53.	Virginia Tech	$474M	$130M	ACC	Blacksburg, VA	public
54.	University of California, Los Angeles	$472M	$105M	Big Ten	Los Angeles, CA	public
55.	University of Colorado	$470M	$127M	Big 12	Boulder, CO	public
56.	University of Utah	$468M	$126M	Big 12	Salt Lake City, UT	public
57.	Kansas State University	$444M	$102M	Big 12	Manhattan, KS	public
58.	Boston College	$443M	$118M	ACC	Chestnut Hill, MA	private
59.	Rutgers University	$417M	$125M	Big Ten	New Brunswick, NJ	public
60.	West Virginia University	$403M	$106M	Big 12	Morgantown, WV	public
61.	Washington State University	$392M	$79M	Pac-12	Pullman, WA	public
62.	University of California, Berkeley	$386M	$126M	ACC	Berkeley, CA	public
63.	Wake Forest University	$362M	$97M	ACC	Winston-Salem, NC	private
64.	Brigham Young University	$357M	$106M	Big 12	Provo, UT	public
65.	Southern Methodist University	$327M	$86M	ACC	Dallas, TX	private
66.	Oregon State University	$326M	$92M	Pac-12	Corvallis, OR	public
67.	San Diego State University	$287M	$104M	MWC	San Diego, CA	public
68.	Arizona State University	$279M	$115M	Big 12	Tempe, AZ	public
69.	University of Cincinnati	$216M	$87M	Big 12	Cincinnati, OH	public
70.	University of Central Florida	$181M	$85M	Big 12	Orlando, FL	public
71.	University of Connecticut	$178M	$93M	Big East	Storrs, CT	public
72.	Boise State University	$176M	$61M	MWC	Boise, ID	public
73.	East Carolina University	$153M	$63M	AAC	Greenville, NC	public
74.	University of South Florida	$150M	$71M	AAC	Tampa, FL	public
75.	University of Memphis	$148M	$64M	AAC	Memphis, TN	public