Here you go boss.
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By
Andrew Beaton
Jan. 7, 2019 10:31 a.m. ET
By any measure, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson are the top two college football teams in the country—facing off in the national championship game for the third time in four years.
But there’s one title neither can claim: the most valuable college football program in the country.
That honor belongs to Texas, according to an annual study conducted by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. The Longhorns are worth $1.1 billion, according to Brewer’s analysis, which moved them into the top slot after Ohio State had held that role for the prior three years.
(See a list of the College Football Value Rankings.)
Brewer’s study calculates what a college team would be worth on the open market if it could be bought and sold like a professional sports franchise. Brewer analyzes each program’s revenues and expenses along with cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections.
Ohio State, which had been worth $1.5 billion in last year’s study, saw that number drop to $1 billion—a product of both broader economic conditions and the tumult the Buckeyes experienced this season. Urban Meyer coached his last game for the school in a Rose Bowl win over Washington after a stormy year in which the coach was suspended by the school at the start, the product of an investigation into the school’s handling of abuse allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, allegations Smith has denied.
“Losing Urban Meyer is a serious blow to that program,” Brewer said. “He was a tremendous asset.”
The Ohio State Buckeyes, led by head coach Urban Meyer, run on to the field ahead of the Rose Bowl. PHOTO: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES
More broadly, Brewer said, the Big Ten faces fundamental questions after missing the playoff yet again this season, highlighted by Ohio State’s exclusion as a one-loss team. While Michigan joins the Buckeyes near the top, ranked No. 4 with a $924.6 million valuation, Brewer noted the conference’s absence from the season’s biggest stage damages the teams’ bottom lines and broader profiles.
Brewer’s analysis found that across the Football Bowl Subdivision, adjusted revenues were $5.6 billion, up 6.4% from a year ago, and the cash flow of $2 billion marked a 2.7% jump. But the value of the college sports properties, he said, are also a product of the economy in general which he said is at a “fork in the road” with more negativity than a year ago—hurting team values.
Alabama, which has won five titles in the last nine years under coach Nick Saban, has a $1 billion valuation, rounding out the three programs worth 10 figures. That’s more than three times the value of Clemson, its title-game opponent, valued at $298 million.
Although Texas—a Big 12 school—tops the list and boasts the highest adjusted revenue at $163.9 million, the Southeastern Conference dominates the top of the rankings. Even as Alabama has pummeled its conference opponents into submission on the field in recent years, those same SEC schools have still proven to be lucrative properties: Seven of the 12 most valuable programs are in the SEC.
Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com