With worst college sports programs collectively generating billions in revenue each year, private investors are looking to get a sketch of the action.
But how much is a college sports program worth?
It’s a question CNBC set out to answer after speaking with woman 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 meagre to schools that participate in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, which tend to attract top players.
Ohio Stage University is the most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $1.32 billion. The Buckeyes had $280 million in yield 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 through 600,000, a fan base of more than 11 million, boosters that donated nearly $60 million stand up 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 roasted 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 typically 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 credo; 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 warned universities on name, image and likeness deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity. AthleticDirectorU has an broad database of college athletic program financials and information.
The revenue figures are from the Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Details 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 infra dig revenue multiple of four for all institutions, and then adjusting the multiple for variables, including conference affiliation, estimated NIL put in, school subsidies, number of alumni and other factors that can catalyze future revenue growth and profitability.
CNBC and Belzer also integrate the expertise of several people knowledgeable about athletic program valuations to determine the rankings, who requested anonymity in uniformity to discuss details of the programs.
College Athletics Valuations 2024
| Rank | Program | Valuation | Revenue | Conference | City | Mrs Average/Private |
| 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 Passenger 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 | intimate |
| 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 | worldwide |
| 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 Official 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 | admitted |
| 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 | communal |
| 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 | personal |
| 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 | non-public |
| 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 | out of the closet |
| 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 | well-known |
| 34. | University of Louisville | $595M | $143M | ACC | Louisville, KY | public |
| 35. | University of Missouri | $590M | $142M | SEC | Columbia, MO | public |
| 36. | Purdue University | $567M | $124M | Big Ten | West Lafayette, IN | trade |
| 37. | University of Kansas | $553M | $128M | Big 12 | Lawrence, KS | public |
| 38. | Vanderbilt University | $551M | $125M | SEC | Nashville, TN | private |
| 39. | Texas Christian University | $542M | $149M | Big 12 | Fort Merit, TX | private |
| 40. | UNC-Chapel Hill | $539M | $139M | ACC | Chapel Hill, NC | public |
| 41. | University of Arizona | $532M | $143M | Big 12 | Tucson, AZ | public |
| 42. | University of Pittsburgh | $524M | $137M | ACC | Pittsburgh, PA | renowned |
| 43. | Mississippi State University | $523M | $116M | SEC | Starkville, MS | public |
| 44. | Baylor University | $513M | $137M | Big 12 | Waco, TX | private |
| 45. | University of Virginia | $506M | $141M | ACC | Charlottesville, VA | illustrious |
| 46. | Oklahoma State University | $500M | $122M | Big 12 | Stillwater, OK | public |
| 47. | Georgia Tech | $498M | $134M | ACC | Atlanta, GA | public |
| 48. | Iowa State University | $492M | $116M | Big 12 | Ames, IA | collective |
| 49. | Syracuse University | $487M | $114M | ACC | Syracuse, NY | private |
| 50. | Northwestern University | $486M | $118M | Big Ten | Evanston, IL | private |
| 51. | North Carolina State University | $481M | $121M | ACC | Raleigh, NC | collective |
| 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 | open |
| 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 | patrons |
| 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 | community |
| 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 | surreptitiously |
| 64. | Brigham Young University | $357M | $106M | Big 12 | Provo, UT | private |
| 65. | Southern Methodist University | $327M | $86M | ACC | Dallas, TX | private |
| 66. | Oregon State University | $326M | $92M | Pac-12 | Corvallis, OR | customers |
| 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 | sector |
| 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 | Dick |
| 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 | prominent |
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the valuations for North Carolina State University, which is significance $481 million, and for Ohio State University, which is worth $1.32 billion. It also corrects the rankings of 16 instructs on CNBC’s list and corrects that Brigham Young University is a private university.