Value of college Athletic Departments ranked, shows clear hierarchy in FBS

The value of college athletic departments is tough to measure, money is always coming in and going out, but one person thinks he's found an effective way. Jason Belzer, founder of Student Athlete NIL, partnered with CNBC's Mike Ozanian to create a ranking of the Top 75 athletic departments by valuation. The two ranked athletic departments at schools that are in the FBS only.

Belzer and Ozanian used the NCAA’s Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act reports and the Knight Newhouse College Athletics Database for the 2023 fiscal year to make their determinations. The report also took into account factors such as conference affiliation, NIL spending, school subsidies and alumni.

Here are the top ten departments:

College sports programs aren't just about wins and losses—they're billion-dollar brands driving revenue through media rights, sponsorships, and community impact. But how do we measure their true value? @AD_University and @CNBC present the first ever athletic department… pic.twitter.com/5BuYlSpwev
— Jason Belzer (@JasonBelzer) December 19, 2024

Belzer and Ozanian found that four programs are worth more than $1 billion. Ohio State came in at $1.32, Texas at $1.28, Texas A&M at $1.26 and Michigan at $1.06 billion. As expected, though, valuation doesn't equal success. Of the 12 College Football Playoff teams this season, half are ranked in the Top 15, but SMU, Arizona State and Boise State are ranked 65, 68 and 72, respectively. All three are in the bottom 11.

Other than Boise State, non-Power 4 schools represented in the top 75 include Washington State, Oregon State, San Diego State, UConn, East Carolina, South Florida and Memphis. Washington State is ranked the highest of these schools at 61.

Unsurprisingly, when conferences are ranked the SEC and Big Ten reign supreme. SEC teams' average value is $832 million, the Big Ten averages $734 million, the ACC averages $562 million and the Big 12 averages $420 million. For the record, Notre Dame is included in the ACC teams despite being a non-football member.

The conference rankings are a better indicator of success, at least in football. Seven of the 12 CFP teams this season are from the SEC and Big Ten. That representation and the fact that 14 of the 15 highest-value athletic departments are in those two conferences show a clear hierarchy in the landscape of college sports: Football brings in all the money. The rankings are by athletic departments as a whole, not just football, and the SEC and Big Ten are just the two best football conferences. The Big 12 is probably the best basketball conference, but the highest-ranked Big 12 team is Texas Tech at 33.

The rankings make it clear that football is the most revenue-generating sport, something we already knew. However, even teams who aren't great at football but have the benefit of being in the SEC or Big Ten get a boost in their value, a troubling trend in the years of realignment when the idea of a Superconference has been floated.