Texas tops college football valuation rankings
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At $2.38 billion, the University of Texas' football program is the most valuable, according to estimations by The Athletic.
Why it matters: NCAA teams aren't for sale yet, but name, image and likeness (NIL) has led more to mirror themselves like professional clubs.
State of play: The Athletic ranked teams in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 by how much money they'd hypothetically sell for on the open market.
- Prestige, championships, facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios were all factored into the rankings.
Context: The New York Times-owned sports publication took real-life sales examples across pro sports to determine what each program is worth.
- It used NFL and NBA sales to calculate ratios in the SEC and Big Ten, and the MLB and NHL were the benchmarks for ACC and Big 12 programs.
What they're saying: "The Longhorns routinely lead the country in revenue and were the only team to top $200 million in the most recent financial reports," The Athletic's Matt Baker wrote.
- "The Longhorns haven't won a national title since 2005 but made the College Football Playoff semifinals each of the past two seasons and are among this preseason's top championship contenders."
The reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes ranked third in this study at a valuation of $1.9 billion.
