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Forbes: 5 of the top 10 most valuable football programs hail from the SEC
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According to Forbes, Tennessee had the most valuable college football program in the Southeastern Conference and the 3rd-most valuable in the entire country.
Just as last season, five of the top 10 teams hailed from the SEC.
The Vols ($121 million) now claim the top spot in the conference after Alabama — then at $107M — resided there last season. LSU ($111M), Georgia ($102M), Alabama ($99M) and Auburn ($89) round out the SEC teams that are in the top 10 this season.
The top of the list remains the same with Texas and Notre Dame still 1st and 2nd, respectively. Even so, the Longhorns increased their value by 16 percent (a $21M boost) while the Irish jumped by just $5M.
Tennessee was the fourth-most valuable program in the SEC last season at $94M before increasing its value by $27M. The Crimson Tide now trades places with the Vols at 4th among the league’s programs.
As for the rest of the SEC teams in the top 20, Arkansas jumps from 18th in the country to 12th, followed by Florida (15th), Texas A&M (16th) and South Carolina (18th).
The full Forbes list:
1. Texas $152 million
2. Notre Dame $127
3. Tennessee $121
4. LSU $111
5. Michigan $105
6. Georgia $102
7. Ohio State $100
8. Alabama $99
9. Oklahoma $96
10. Auburn $89
11. Penn State $81
12. Arkansas $80
13. Washington $78
14. Oregon $75
15. Florida $72
16. Texas A&M $71
17. Florida State $70
18. South Carolina $69
19. Michigan State $67
20. Southern Cal $66
As for how Forbes determines each program’s worth, the corresponding article explains:
“College football teams obviously can’t be bought or sold, so there’s no use in considering what they might go for on the open market like we do with our NFL valuations. But they are of serious value to their universities, athletic departments, conferences and even local economies, which get a sizable boost from fans traveling to home football games.
“We combine money generated in those four areas — university value, for example, consists of academic support in the form of football scholarships and direct university contributions — in the 2014-15 season to get a snapshot of just how valuable each team is. Revenue and expense data comes from annual financial reports made to the Department of Education; value to the local economy is measured by economic impact studies.”
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
