What the top 75 college sports programs are worth

By / / Business / 4 minutes of reading


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



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About The Author

Avatar of Carol Acevedo
Carol Acevedo is a writer for In Group Press. She covers sports, education, and tech news. Carol has also written about lifestyle topics like beauty, fashion, and entertainment. Carol loves traveling, but she's also a dedicated homebody who loves to spend time with her family and friends. She's a huge fan of reading and watching movies on Netflix—and she'll admit that she's a sucker for romantic comedies!

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