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Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer is earning his keep. Texas is still a financial giant in the world of college football. The Fighting Irish aren’t what they used to be. And Indiana tops Purdue—for now.
At least that’s what the most recent study of college football program valuations by Indiana University associate finance professor Ryan Brewer tells us.
The big takeaway this year: As the popularity of college football continues to skyrocket, valuations among schools that Brewer studies are up—on average—26 percent this year (based on 2016 financials), compared to the previous year.
Brewer has been calculating valuations for college football programs as if they were stand-alone for-profit enterprises since 2011. He released his most recent report last week. His work, first published in the IBJ six years ago, now is cited widely in the sports and financial media, including in The Wall Street Journal.
Brewer values the college football programs the way Wall Street analysts value businesses, based on cash flow history and myriad other factors.
Values are up this year, largely due to increased cash flow and revenue.
Total cash flow among the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools was up 24 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, Brewers’ study showed. That’s following an 18 percent increase in 2015 over 2014.
Total revenue among FBS schools was 17 percent higher in 2016 than 2015, and that follows a 9 percent increase in 2015 over 2014.
Ohio State ranks No. 1 on Brewer’s most recent list with a valuation (or “intrinsic value,” as Brewer labels it) of $1.5 billion. In 2011—the season before Urban Meyer arrived as the Buckeyes’ head football coach—Brewer had Ohio State at No. 12 in his rankings with a valuation of $292.8 million.
Texas, which ranked No. 1 in 2011 with a $848.3 million valuation, rose to $1.24 billion in Brewer’s calculations this year, which was good for the No. 2 spot.
Oklahoma was the only other football program in the billion-dollar club, ranking No. 3 with a $1 billion valuation.
While Notre Dame’s valuation increased from $811.5 million in 2012 (Notre Dame wasn’t included in the 2011 study because he only studied public schools for the report published in 2011) to $856.9 million this year, the Fighting Irish dropped from No. 2 in Brewer’s 2012 valuation ratings to No. 7 this year.
That’s still way ahead of Indiana’s other major college football programs.
IU ranks No. 44 on the list with a valuation of $178.2 million, and Purdue ranks No. 55 with a $135 million valuation in Brewer’s most recent ranking.
Both schools have made substantial progress in their valuations but lost ground in the rankings—which could be interpreted as the schools losing ground in the college athletics revenue arms race.
In 2011, Indiana had a valuation of $77.8 million. But its No. 36 rank in 2011 was a bit higher than it was this year.
In 2011, Purdue had a valuation of $55.5 million, with a No. 44 ranking.
The Hoosiers and Boilermakers both have first-year coaches this season and are boasting stadium renovations, so there’s reason to hope that IU and Purdue could rise in future ranking.
In addition, Purdue started expanded beer sales this season at Ross-Ade Stadium, so that can’t hurt either.
Here are the full rankings in Brewer's most recent study:
|
Fall 2017 Rank |
Institution Name |
2016 Adjusted Cash Flow |
2016 Adjusted Revenues |
Intrinsic Values |
|
1 |
Ohio State |
66,521,000 |
130,114,000 |
1,510,482,000 |
|
2 |
Texas |
85,283,000 |
145,223,000 |
1,243,124,000 |
|
3 |
Oklahoma |
62,871,000 |
124,923,000 |
1,001,967,000 |
|
4 |
Alabama |
53,689,000 |
132,318,000 |
930,001,000 |
|
5 |
LSU |
61,247,000 |
118,879,000 |
910,927,000 |
|
6 |
Michigan |
60,396,000 |
118,961,000 |
892,951,000 |
|
7 |
Notre Dame |
69,032,000 |
121,180,000 |
856,938,000 |
|
8 |
Georgia |
42,339,000 |
105,529,000 |
822,310,000 |
|
9 |
Tennessee |
55,551,000 |
109,606,000 |
745,640,000 |
|
10 |
Auburn |
59,103,000 |
120,572,000 |
724,191,000 |
|
11 |
Florida |
51,735,000 |
111,948,000 |
682,031,000 |
|
12 |
Penn State |
37,323,000 |
93,294,000 |
549,497,000 |
|
13 |
Texas A & M |
57,335,000 |
102,725,000 |
522,863,000 |
|
14 |
Nebraska |
39,214,000 |
83,708,000 |
507,679,000 |
|
15 |
South Carolina |
40,459,000 |
95,948,000 |
484,757,000 |
|
16 |
Iowa |
45,178,000 |
92,630,000 |
483,564,000 |
|
17 |
Arkansas |
44,208,000 |
96,381,000 |
456,153,000 |
|
18 |
Wisconsin |
34,378,000 |
84,789,000 |
439,379,000 |
|
19 |
Washington |
40,317,000 |
84,621,000 |
434,313,000 |
|
20 |
Florida State |
7,960,000 |
69,137,000 |
385,339,000 |
|
21 |
Oregon |
37,076,000 |
76,666,000 |
368,529,000 |
|
22 |
Michigan State |
27,523,000 |
73,139,000 |
336,794,000 |
|
23 |
Mississippi |
35,229,000 |
77,778,000 |
330,503,000 |
|
24 |
Clemson |
15,642,000 |
68,175,000 |
328,411,000 |
|
25 |
Southern California |
14,524,000 |
67,884,000 |
324,195,000 |
|
26 |
Arizona State |
29,800,000 |
67,831,000 |
315,412,000 |
|
27 |
UCLA |
24,169,000 |
63,918,000 |
314,436,000 |
|
28 |
Kentucky |
30,594,000 |
70,852,000 |
287,589,000 |
|
29 |
Oklahoma State |
30,106,000 |
67,533,000 |
285,293,000 |
|
30 |
Kansas State |
29,492,000 |
61,614,000 |
277,203,000 |
|
31 |
Virginia Tech |
16,881,000 |
59,125,000 |
269,883,000 |
|
32 |
Minnesota |
30,915,000 |
74,346,000 |
260,264,000 |
|
33 |
Miami of Florida |
16,566,000 |
59,087,000 |
254,502,000 |
|
34 |
Texas Tech |
31,209,000 |
57,955,000 |
246,871,000 |
|
35 |
Miss State |
28,712,000 |
64,270,000 |
230,655,000 |
|
36 |
Stanford |
21,876,000 |
62,226,000 |
225,479,000 |
|
37 |
California Berkely |
15,538,000 |
47,899,000 |
220,017,000 |
|
38 |
Georgia Tech |
23,238,000 |
52,668,000 |
212,068,000 |
|
39 |
Utah |
26,899,000 |
56,831,000 |
206,365,000 |
|
40 |
Colorado |
22,971,000 |
57,843,000 |
203,533,000 |
|
41 |
Iowa State |
20,859,000 |
59,254,000 |
196,973,000 |
|
42 |
North Carolina State |
19,372,000 |
48,774,000 |
191,813,000 |
|
43 |
Kansas |
30,454,000 |
58,807,000 |
183,031,000 |
|
44 |
Indiana |
20,709,000 |
55,261,000 |
178,168,000 |
|
45 |
Virginia |
16,700,000 |
50,915,000 |
168,534,000 |
|
46 |
Northwestern |
18,680,000 |
53,666,000 |
163,315,000 |
|
47 |
Louisville |
13,360,000 |
51,060,000 |
160,899,000 |
|
48 |
Texas Christian |
15,422,000 |
58,083,000 |
153,631,000 |
|
49 |
Maryland |
14,581,000 |
49,782,000 |
147,608,000 |
|
50 |
North Carolina |
11,989,000 |
50,097,000 |
147,179,000 |
|
51 |
Arizona |
17,985,000 |
48,126,000 |
146,153,000 |
|
52 |
Oregon State |
13,890,000 |
44,004,000 |
144,713,000 |
|
53 |
Illinois |
16,678,000 |
47,931,000 |
143,318,000 |
|
54 |
Wash State |
16,654,000 |
48,515,000 |
142,052,000 |
|
55 |
Purdue |
14,982,000 |
42,812,000 |
135,021,000 |
|
56 |
Missouri |
8,119,000 |
44,740,000 |
126,219,000 |
|
57 |
Syracuse |
13,705,000 |
38,565,000 |
120,903,000 |
|
58 |
Pittsburgh |
7,769,000 |
41,228,000 |
114,468,000 |
|
59 |
Baylor |
5,854,000 |
45,023,000 |
103,591,000 |
|
60 |
BYU |
9,897,000 |
32,714,000 |
98,924,000 |
|
61 |
Central Florida |
3,127,000 |
32,421,000 |
82,302,000 |
|
62 |
Boston College |
6,106,000 |
34,802,000 |
82,241,000 |
|
63 |
Boise State |
11,468,000 |
26,572,000 |
77,981,000 |
|
64 |
Vanderbilt |
6,192,000 |
35,714,000 |
73,991,000 |
|
65 |
Rutgers |
0 |
36,957,000 |
72,441,000 |
|
66 |
West Virginia |
-2,039,000 |
34,492,000 |
72,049,000 |
|
67 |
South Florida |
6,332,000 |
26,981,000 |
70,189,000 |
|
68 |
Duke |
3,179,000 |
33,436,000 |
64,195,000 |
|
69 |
Connecticut |
3,218,000 |
26,521,000 |
59,776,000 |
|
70 |
Wake Forest |
2,742,000 |
28,176,000 |
52,940,000 |
|
71 |
Houston |
0 |
24,711,000 |
41,386,000 |
|
72 |
Temple |
0 |
24,490,000 |
40,669,000 |
|
73 |
Army |
6,099,000 |
15,850,000 |
38,048,000 |
|
74 |
Southern Methodist |
0 |
21,873,000 |
36,047,000 |
|
75 |
Wyoming |
1,640,000 |
16,260,000 |
34,554,000 |
|
76 |
Memphis |
0 |
19,763,000 |
32,290,000 |
|
77 |
Cincinnati |
0 |
18,664,000 |
30,230,000 |
|
78 |
Colorado State |
0 |
18,304,000 |
30,221,000 |
|
79 |
Fresno State |
362,000 |
16,006,000 |
29,325,000 |
|
80 |
North Texas |
2,791,000 |
15,388,000 |
29,266,000 |
|
81 |
East Carolina |
-1,007,000 |
17,834,000 |
28,408,000 |
|
82 |
San Diego State |
-1,405,000 |
17,556,000 |
27,716,000 |
|
83 |
Hawaii |
-147,000 |
16,800,000 |
26,284,000 |
|
84 |
Florida International |
3,289,000 |
14,472,000 |
24,145,000 |
|
85 |
Ohio |
1,096,000 |
13,771,000 |
22,302,000 |
|
86 |
UNLV |
217,000 |
14,561,000 |
21,772,000 |
|
87 |
Marshall |
866,000 |
13,690,000 |
21,483,000 |
|
88 |
Rice |
0 |
14,484,000 |
21,453,000 |
|
89 |
San Jose State |
0 |
11,377,000 |
21,370,000 |
|
90 |
Akron |
657,000 |
13,700,000 |
20,235,000 |
|
91 |
UTEP |
972,000 |
12,238,000 |
19,344,000 |
|
92 |
Middle Tennessee |
0 |
13,647,000 |
19,322,000 |
|
93 |
Toledo |
0 |
13,391,000 |
18,736,000 |
|
94 |
Utah State |
0 |
13,217,000 |
18,305,000 |
|
95 |
Nevada |
448,000 |
12,750,000 |
17,478,000 |
|
96 |
Western Michigan |
0 |
12,630,000 |
17,134,000 |
|
97 |
Western Kentucky |
0 |
12,300,000 |
16,532,000 |
|
98 |
Northern Illinois |
0 |
12,033,000 |
16,141,000 |
|
99 |
Buffalo |
18,000 |
12,074,000 |
16,090,000 |
|
100 |
New Mexico |
-1,069,000 |
11,933,000 |
15,380,000 |
|
101 |
Southern Miss |
0 |
11,796,000 |
15,037,000 |
|
102 |
Troy |
1,376,000 |
10,925,000 |
14,879,000 |
|
103 |
Central Michigan |
0 |
11,384,000 |
14,350,000 |
|
104 |
Florida Atlantic |
-531,000 |
10,840,000 |
13,221,000 |
|
105 |
Ball State |
0 |
10,537,000 |
12,701,000 |
|
106 |
Miami – Ohio |
0 |
10,230,000 |
12,187,000 |
|
107 |
Louisiana Lafayette |
0 |
10,049,000 |
11,829,000 |
|
108 |
Eastern Michigan |
-37,000 |
9,930,000 |
11,563,000 |
|
109 |
Kent State |
0 |
9,615,000 |
11,060,000 |
|
110 |
Louisiana Tech |
-32,000 |
9,538,000 |
10,836,000 |
|
111 |
Idaho |
245,000 |
9,178,000 |
10,513,000 |
|
112 |
New Mexico State |
0 |
9,177,000 |
10,180,000 |
|
113 |
Bowling Green |
0 |
8,759,000 |
9,915,000 |
|
114 |
Arkansas State |
0 |
8,129,000 |
8,787,000 |
|
115 |
Louisiana Monroe |
0 |
6,287,000 |
6,792,000 |
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