COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Ohio State won the gold trophy last year for the CFP National Championship, and the Buckeyes also represent the gold standard for valuable programs in college athletics.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Ohio State Football is worth an estimated $946.6 Million, making it the most valuable college sports program in the nation. The story sources an annual report from Ryan Brewer, an assistant professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus.
Texas comes in 2nd place on the list at $885M and Michigan ranks 3rd at $811M.
To put that in perspective, the cash payout for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing is $868 million. That means if you didn’t have to pay Uncle Sam, you could essentially buy TTUN’s program. After taxes in Ohio, you’re left with $616 million, enough to buy LSU or Penn State’s football program. (Of course, none of these teams are actually for sale.)
Oddly enough, OSU’s value actually decreased from a year ago. Last year OSU’s estimated football value topped $1.1 billion. A year ago four teams topped the $900M mark, and now only the Buckeyes remain there.
The idea of the study is to determine what the value of a program would be if it were sold on the open market like a professional team would be.
Below are the top 10 most valuable teams, according to the WSJ:
- Ohio State $946.61
- Texas $885.05
- Michigan $811.30
- Notre Dame $723.59
- Alabama $694.87
- Oklahoma $674.34
- Florida $670.86
- Georgia $636.44
- LSU $612.30
- Penn State $481.39
Photos: Ohio State at the Fiesta Bowl
