Getty Image / Thomas B. Shea
In 2011, The University of Texas Longhorns became the first college football team to eclipse $100 million in revenue. Three years later, the Longhorns pulled in $92 million in profit. Now there’s a new king in the Lonestar State and TAMU is ranked #1 as the most valuable college football team in America after pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of donations in the past few years.
The Longhorns have fallen by the wayside when it comes to competing for the College Football Playoff and National Championships and that has allowed TAMU to pull in a reported $260 million in donations over the past four years which has catapulted them to #1 on Forbes‘ list.
This year’s list of the most valuable teams in college football includes all the familiar faces and while the Longhorns have slipped dramatically in college football’s rankings they’re still raking in the $$$ and are #2 on the list followed by the Michigan Wolverines as the most valuable team in the Big Ten.
The University of Oregon Ducks are the most valuable team in the Pac-10 while the Florida State Seminoles, my alma mater, are the most valuable team in the ACC. Independent Notre Dame found themselves as #7 on the list.
Combined, college football’s 25 most valuable teams are bringing in an astounding $2.5 BILLION in revenue each year and $1.4 billion in profit.
Here’s what the list of the 25 most valuable teams in college football looks like for 2018, dominated by SEC teams, with #25 on the list still bringing $31 million in profit last season.
1. Texas A&M Aggies: $148M revenue, $107M profit
2. Texas Longhorns: $133M revenue, $87M profit
3. Michigan Wolverines: $127M revenue, $75M profit
4. Alabama Crimson Tide: $127M revenue, $59M profit
5. Ohio State Buckeyes: $120M revenue, $69M profit
6. Oklahoma Sooners: $118M revenue, $72M profit
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: $112M revenue, $72M profit
8. Auburn Tigers: $112M revenue, $61M profit
9. LSU Tigers: $112M revenue, $56M profit
10. Florida Gators: $111M revenue, $67M profit
11. Tennessee Volunteers: $108M revenue, $60M profit
12. Oregon Ducks: $92M revenue, $54M profit
13. Arizona Razorbacks: $92M revenue, $54M profit
14. Penn State Nittany Lions: $92M revenue, $48M profit
15. South Carolina Gamecocks: $90M revenue, $50M profit
16. Georgia Bulldogs: $89M revenue, $55M profit
17. Florida State Seminoles: $88M revenue, $41M profit
18. USC Trojans: $87M revenue, $47M profit
19. Washington Huskies: $84M revenue, $36M profit
20. Nebraska Cornhuskers: $83M revenue, $46M profit
21. Ole Miss Rebels: $80M revenue, $42M profit
22. Michigan State Spartans: $80M revenue, $39M profit
23. Iowa Hawkeyes: $79M revenue, $38M profit
24. Wisconsin Badgers: $78M revenue, $43M profit
25. Texas Tech Red Raiders: $60M revenue, $31M profit
If it sounded like I was being overly harsh towards the Longhorns above I hope it didn’t come off that way. I genuinely think the College Football landscape is more fun when the Longhorns are competitive and I’ve got nothing against them. I’m just shocked with all that money they can’t seem to compete over the past few years.
SEE HOW 2017 LOOKED: These Are The 25 Most Valuable College Football Programs In America In 2017
As for this year’s list of the 25 most valuable teams in college football, I think it’s blatantly apparent that the SEC is king when it comes to revenue. They’ve got 5 teams in the top 10 and 10 in the top 25. That’s a whole lotta cash getting tossed around by boosters.
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This is actually the first time in a few years that Forbes put out a list of the most valuable college football programs, something they used to publish annually. They’ve changed their methodology up a little bit this year so if you’re curious and you want to read more just click that link and you can read the article in full.