The University of Texas has a big moneymaker coming in 2010. You know, the BCS National Championship game, which has an expected payout of more than $31 million. But it turns out that Texas making bank from the BCS title game is a lot like Bill Gates making money from a new skyrocketing stock.
Why? Well, the University of Texas program is the most valuable in college football, Forbes reports. The team generated $82 million last season. The biggest bits of the breakdown are astonishing: $33 million in ticket sales, $30 million from donations, $1 million from Nike, and close to $1 million in sponsorship payments from Coca-Cola and Gatorade. All those numbers add up to Texas being the most valuable team in college football, worth a whopping $119 million, the report says.
[Slide Show: Grading the Top Bowlbound Schools]
Notre Dame is the second most valuable football program, valued at $108 million. But the Fighting Irish reportedly have a high ceiling for growth. "If and when Notre Dame chooses to leverage the football team, it could make a lot more money," Louis Nanni, Notre Dame's vice president for university relations, tells Forbes. "We don't even have a JumboTron."
Penn State, Nebraska, and Alabama round out Forbes's five most valuable programs.
Eighteen of the 20 most valuable teams come from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Southeastern conferences. (Notre Dame and Southern Cal are the two that don't come from the big three conferences.)
The main point is clear: There's a lot of money in big-time college football. And we wonder why college athletics are moving at an unsustainable economic pace.
- Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of America's Best Colleges.
Reader Comments Read all comments (4)
ROBERT of ID 3:37PM December 30, 2009
Jim of TX 2:02PM December 28, 2009
Longhorn of TX 11:10AM December 28, 2009