Ohio State Buckeyes players stand on the field after a game against the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Nov. 23, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
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With major college sports programs collectively generating billions in revenue annually, private investors want to get a piece of the action.
But how big is a college sports program?
That’s the question CNBC set out to answer after talking to people in the private equity world looking 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 often attracts top players.
The Ohio State University is the most valuable athletic program, worth approximately $1.27 billion. The Buckeyes had $280 million in revenue by 2023, the most of any school. Other factors that have helped the Buccaneers rise to the top of the rankings include a student base of more than 600,000, more than 11 million fans, sponsors who donated nearly $60 million last year, and a football team that regularly attends more than 100,000 people. in its games.
Not surprisingly, the top of the list is filled with SEC and Big Ten schools — thanks in large part to each conference’s massive media rights deals.
In total, 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; 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 ratings comes courtesy of Jason Belzer, publisher of AthleticDirectorU, who has advised universities on names, photos and match deals and now does the same for athletic departments seeking private matches. AthleticDirectorU has an extensive database of college athletic finance 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 2023 fiscal year. The list shows the current business value of each plan, starting with a base profit of four times all of them. institutions, then adjust for a multitude of variables, including affiliation with conferences, estimated NIL funding, school funding, high school enrollment and other factors that may affect future revenue growth and profitability.
CNBC and Belzer also enlisted the expertise of several people with knowledge of athletic program ratings to determine the ranking, who requested anonymity to discuss program details.
College Athletics Predictions 2024
| Level | The program | Measurement | Net worth | The conference | The city | Ownership |
| 1. | Ohio State University | $1.32B | $280M | The Top Ten | Columbus, OH | the community |
| 2. | University of Texas at Austin | $1.28B | $271M | SEC | Austin, TX | the community |
| 3. | Texas A&M University | $1.26B | $279M | SEC | College Station, TX | the community |
| 4. | University of Michigan | $1.06B | $230M | The Top Ten | Ann Arbor, MI | the community |
| 5. | University of Alabama | $978M | $200M | SEC | Tuscaloosa, AL | the community |
| 6. | University of Notre Dame | $969M | $224M | ACC | Notre Dame, IN | which is confidential |
| 7. | University of Georgia | $950M | $210M | SEC | Athens, GA | the community |
| 8. | University of Nebraska | $943M | $205M | The Top Ten | Lincoln, NE | the community |
| 9. | University of Tennessee | $940M | $202M | SEC | Knoxville, TN | the community |
| 10. | University of Oklahoma | $928M | $199M | SEC | Norman, OK | the community |
| 11. | Penn State University | $924M | $202M | The Top Ten | University Park, PA | the community |
| 12. | University of Southern California | $923M | $212M | The Top Ten | Los Angeles, CA | which is confidential |
| 13. | Louisiana State University | $916M | $200M | SEC | Baton Rouge, LA | the community |
| 14. | University of Florida | $865M | $189M | SEC | Gainesville, FL | the community |
| 15. | University of Wisconsin | $838M | $198M | The Top Ten | Madison, WI | the community |
| 16. | Clemson University | $800M | $196M | ACC | Clemson, SC | the community |
| 17. | University of Oregon | $780M | $151M | The Top Ten | Eugene, OR | the community |
| 18. | University of Arkansas | $776M | $167M | SEC | Fayetteville, AR | the community |
| 19. | University of Kentucky | $775M | $174M | SEC | Lexington, KY | the community |
| 20. | Auburn University | $772M | $195M | SEC | Auburn, AL | the community |
| 21. | University of Iowa | $747M | $167M | The Top Ten | Iowa City, IA | the community |
| 22. | Michigan State University | $740M | $171M | The Top Ten | East Lansing, MI | the community |
| 23. | Stanford University | $687M | $180M | ACC | Stanford, CA | which is confidential |
| 24. | Florida State University | $673M | $170M | ACC | Tallahassee, FL | the community |
| 25. | University of Illinois | $665M | $148M | The Top Ten | Champaign, IL | the community |
| 26. | Duke University | $659M | $153M | ACC | Durham, NC | which is confidential |
| 27. | University of Washington | $658M | $152M | The Top Ten | Seattle, WA | the community |
| 28. | Indiana University | $653M | $145M | The Top Ten | Indianapolis, IN | the community |
| 29. | University of Mississippi | $651M | $142M | SEC | Oxford, MS | the community |
| 30. | University of South Carolina | $650M | $160M | SEC | Columbia, SC | the community |
| 31. | University of Miami | $639M | $160M | ACC | Coral Gables, FL | which is confidential |
| 32. | University of Minnesota | $637M | $149M | The Top Ten | Minneapolis, MN | the community |
| 33. | Texas Tech University | $619M | $147M | Big 12 | Lubbock, TX | the community |
| 34. | University of Louisville | $595M | $143M | ACC | Louisville, KY | the community |
| 35. | University of Missouri | $590M | $142M | SEC | Columbia, MO | the community |
| 36. | North Carolina State University | $581M | $121M | ACC | Raleigh, NC | the community |
| 37. | Purdue University | $567M | $124M | The Top Ten | West Lafayette, IN | the community |
| 38. | University of Kansas | $553M | $128M | Big 12 | Lawrence, KS | the community |
| 39. | Vanderbilt University | $551M | $125M | SEC | Nashville, TN | which is confidential |
| 40. | Texas Christian University | $542M | $149M | Big 12 | Fort Worth, TX | which is confidential |
| 41. | UNC-Chapel Hill | $539M | $139M | ACC | Chapel Hill, NC | the community |
| 42. | University of Arizona | $532M | $143M | Big 12 | Tucson, AZ | the community |
| 43. | University of Pittsburgh | $524M | $137M | ACC | Pittsburgh, PA | the community |
| 44. | Mississippi State University | $523M | $116M | SEC | Starkville, MS | the community |
| 45. | Baylor University | $513M | $137M | Big 12 | Waco, TX | which is confidential |
| 46. | University of Virginia | $506M | $141M | ACC | Charlottesville, VA | the community |
| 47. | Oklahoma State University | $500M | $122M | Big 12 | Stillwater, OK | the community |
| 48. | Georgia Tech | $498M | $134M | ACC | Atlanta, GA | the community |
| 49. | Iowa State University | $492M | $116M | Big 12 | Ames, IA | the community |
| 50. | Syracuse University | $487M | $114M | ACC | Syracuse, NY | which is confidential |
| 51. | Northwestern University | $486M | $118M | The Top Ten | Evanston, IL | which is confidential |
| 52. | University of Maryland | $477M | $121M | The Top Ten | College Park, MD | the community |
| 53. | Virginia Tech | $474M | $130M | ACC | Blacksburg, VA | the community |
| 54. | University of California, Los Angeles | $472M | $105M | The Top Ten | Los Angeles, CA | the community |
| 55. | University of Colorado | $470M | $127M | Big 12 | Boulder, CO | the community |
| 56. | University of Utah | $468M | $126M | Big 12 | Salt Lake City, UT | the community |
| 57. | Kansas State University | $444M | $102M | Big 12 | Manhattan, KS | the community |
| 58. | Boston College | $443M | $118M | ACC | Chestnut Hill, MA | which is confidential |
| 59. | Rutgers University | $417M | $125M | The Top Ten | New Brunswick, NJ | the community |
| 60. | West Virginia University | $403M | $106M | Big 12 | Morgantown, WV | the community |
| 61. | Washington State University | $392M | $79M | The Pac-12 | Pullman, WA | the community |
| 62. | University of California, Berkeley | $386M | $126M | ACC | Berkeley, CA | the community |
| 63. | Wake Forest University | $362M | $97M | ACC | Winston-Salem, NC | which is confidential |
| 64. | Brigham Young University | $357M | $106M | Big 12 | Provo, UT | the community |
| 65. | Southern Methodist University | $327M | $86M | ACC | Dallas, TX | which is confidential |
| 66. | Oregon State University | $326M | $92M | The Pac-12 | Corvallis, OR | the community |
| 67. | San Diego State University | $287M | $104M | The MWC | San Diego, CA | the community |
| 68. | Arizona State University | $279M | $115M | Big 12 | Tempe, AZ | the community |
| 69. | University of Cincinnati | $216M | $87M | Big 12 | Cincinnati, OH | the community |
| 70. | University of Central Florida | $181M | $85M | Big 12 | Orlando, FL | the community |
| 71. | University of Connecticut | $178M | $93M | The Great East | Storrs, CT | the community |
| 72. | Boise State University | $176M | $61M | The MWC | Boise, ID | the community |
| 73. | East Carolina University | $153M | $63M | AAC | Greenville, NC | the community |
| 74. | University of South Florida | $150M | $71M | AAC | Tampa, FL | the community |
| 75. | University of Memphis | $148M | $64M | AAC | Memphis, TN | the community |
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