College sports valuations hit record highs: Texas Longhorns top list at $1.475B, 13 programs over $1B in 2025. Football, TV deals, and NIL reshape the business.
Valuations Reach New Heights
The latest rankings released by CNBC senior sports reporter Michael Ozanian show the 75 most valuable college athletic programs in 2025. The list starts at No. 75 with a valuation of $190 million and culminates at No. 1 with nearly $1.5 billion.
In 2024, only four schools were valued above $1 billion. That number has jumped to 13 in 2025, and the combined worth of the top 75 programs now stands at $51.21 billion, a 13% increase from $45.14 billion the previous year.
Methodology Behind the Numbers
“We value these athletic programs based on the total revenue of all the sports that they have at the school,” Ozanian said. “And then we apply a multiple, typically around four, to those revenues. So, if revenue is $100 million, then the athletic program would be worth $400 million.”
The multiple can be tweaked for factors such as the amount of name, image and likeness money a school generates. Revenue is key because, as Ozanian explained, starting in 2026, ‘proceeds for name, imaging, and likeness, which now schools can pay the athletes, are gonna be on the athletic program balance sheet … schools based on the court ruling are gonna be paying student athletes money for past performance that they’ve had.’
Schools Seeking External Support
Ozanian added that schools may look for outside help, such as taking institutional money or private equity money, to “support an athletic program because the athletic program on its own cannot generate the revenue to cover its expenses.” “It’s not a good thing,” Ozanian said.
For example, Texas receives no money from student fees, does not charge a student athletics fee, and has no outside government institutional funds. Rutgers, which did not make the top‑75 cut, earned $137 million in 2024 revenue, of which $15 million came from student fees and another $14 million from institutional and government support.
Football Drives the Surge
The top five programs are either in the SEC or the Big Ten, and they perform well in the major sports within those conferences. The Big Ten has a TV deal worth an average annual value of $1.15 billion, with the SEC second at $710 million. Those figures translate into payouts of $63 million per Big Ten school and $52.5 million per SEC school.
When comparing football revenue to that of the top five basketball programs—Duke, Louisville, Kentucky, UNC, and Syracuse—the football teams generate five times as much.
Texas Longhorns Lead the Pack
The Longhorns are now worth $1.475 billion in 2025, up from $1.28 billion in 2024. Texas generated $322 million in revenue last year, with $69 million from corporate sponsorships, advertising and licensing, and $61 million from ticket sales. The program also received $137 million in fiscal donations, compared with Ohio State’s $53 million and Michigan’s $45 million.
Other Programs in the Billion-Dollar Club
Beyond Texas, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Michigan, the remaining schools valued above $1 billion are Notre Dame, Tennessee, USC, Alabama, Nebraska, Penn State, LSU, and Oklahoma. These programs benefit from strong football performances and significant revenue streams from licensing, merchandising, and donor contributions.
Private vs Public Revenue Differences
USC, now a Big Ten member, outpaces UCLA largely because it is a private school that has done a better job raising money from licensing, merchandising, and donor contributions. In contrast, UCLA, a public school, has lagged behind. The University of Florida, a public school in the SEC, ranks No. 14, while the private University of Miami in the ACC ranks No. 29.
Ozanian’s Perspective on the Future
“You can’t have these enormous television deals and the schools making all this money and then say to the players, you can’t have any of it, as it’s just become a huge business,” Ozanian started. “Clearly it’s become professionalized and part of that now is accepting the fact that the athletes are part of the model and drive this revenue and are gonna get some of the money from it.”
“So it’s gonna create some turmoil and we’ll see how this all plays out if and when the big outside money comes in. But as far as the popularity of the sport and the business side of the sport, I’m bullish.”
Key Takeaways
- The Texas Longhorns are now the most valuable program at $1.475 billion, with 13 schools exceeding $1 billion in 2025.
- Football revenue, amplified by lucrative TV deals, drives the majority of the valuation increase.
- Schools are increasingly relying on external funding and NIL money, reshaping the financial structure of college athletics.
Conclusion
The 2025 valuations underscore how college athletics has evolved into a multi‑billion‑dollar enterprise. As TV contracts, NIL opportunities, and external capital continue to grow, the business model will keep shifting—making the sport more professional, more profitable, and more complex for stakeholders across the nation.
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