COLUMBUS, Ohio — The confetti has hardly been cleaned up in Glendale, Arizona, as Alabama still celebrates its 45-40 victory over Clemson to capture the 2015 College Football Playoff Championship.
But while the Crimson Tide may have reclaimed college football’s throne on the field, as far as money is concerned, Ohio State remains the sport’s reigning champ.
Just hours before Alabama took the field at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Beaton named the Buckeyes college football’s most valuable program for the second consecutive season.
According to Ryan Brewer (via Beaton), an assistant professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, the Ohio State football program is currently worth $946.6 million, edging out Texas ($885.05 million), Michigan ($811.30 million), Notre Dame ($723.59) and the Crimson Tide ($694.87).
And while the Buckeyes’ value dipped from $1.1 billion a year ago, their status as college football’s only team worth more than $900 million is nothing to scoff at.
Surely that number will find itself attractive to prospective advertisers and sponsors such as Nike, whose athletic apparel contract with the school was valued at $4.3 million in 2015. It’s a deal that is looking more and more like a steal for the apparel provider as it moves toward its 2018 end date.
Of course, there’s a difference between “value” and “profit,” and in USA Today’s annual rankings of program revenue, Ohio…
Continue Reading: Buckeyes’ Status as CFB’s Most Valuable Program Proves Urban Meyer’s Underpaid
