With the new American college football season approaching, one glance at the pre-season rankings reveals a familiar list – Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama are consensus in the Top 5.
What exactly are they being ranked for? Of course, their on-field performance is perennially at the top or near, and all four expect to compete for the national championship this season. But the same four schools, that is, football teams, are also at the top for revenue generation, and profit.
Indeed, American college sports seem anything but amateur. Even the student-athletes are finally able to earn based on their exposure as local and national stars. With name, image and likeness (NIL), NCAA athletes can use their position on teams to profit.
The top athletic programs would be the envy of many professional teams in North America and the world over. Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio came in at number 1 for the fiscal year 2023, reporting revenue of over $279.5 million USD, a spike of almost $28 million more than the year before. These figures were reported by the Columbus Dispatch after the university’s annual report was released to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in January of this year.
The football program alone generated more than $127 million, with a surplus after expenses of $55M. Ohio State News reports that $64.3M of that came in ticket sales, even though the team hosted only eight games in 2022. Revenue from media such as radio, television and digital brought in nearly $50M. Another $57.8M came in contributions from outside sources. That sum is earmarked for the general athletics program but it’s safe to assume that football stimulates the abundance of charitable donations.
In comparison, Sports Illustrated states that “[OSU] men’s basketball and wrestling were the only two other sports that brought in over $1 million in revenue.” The Columbus Dispatch reports that basketball brought in $24M in revenue for $10M profit. The rest of the university’s sports do not break even, explaining the importance of football at Ohio State and many universities – it pays for all the other sports.
While it has been 10 years since Ohio State won the national championship, the University of Texas has not won since 2005. But it has made a winning move by switching conferences. Once a stalwart of the Big 12 Conference, the Longhorns have jumped to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This conference is the home of four of the past five champions and one of the two highest revenue-generating football conferences in the USA. (The other being the Big 10, where Ohio State and Michigan reside). According to USA Today, “Texas will not be a full participant in SEC revenue sharing until the 2025-26 school year.” But the SEC has a new TV contract with ESPN starting this year, so Texas already looks to make an additional $20 million USD from last year’s TV deal.
USA Today reports that “Texas credited its football program with $183 million in operating revenue for 2023 and a $122 million surplus over operating expenses.” As a comparison, the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League generated $210 million USD in 2022-23 according to Statista, more than Texas football, but not by a lot.
Alabama shared or outright won seven national championships in 12 seasons between 2009-2020, building the country’s most dominant program and also, one of its richest. The Crimson Tide profited $45.97 million USD after expenses in fiscal ‘23 according to Tuscaloosa News. The near $56M coming from media rights assured another money-making season, even if the goal of another national championship was not met.
The University of Georgia, football champions in 2021 and 2022 after a 40-year drought, ranks fifth in revenue according to Sports Illustrated but its athletic department’s ability to contain costs puts it alone at the top in net revenue. Its 2022 revenue topped $203M while costs came in at $169M giving it a $34M profit. This put Georgia at the top of the rankings on the field, and off, of course, driven by its sensational football team.
These four football schools might not be able to accurately prognosticate their wins and losses, nor their final rankings. But their revenue generation and profits are guaranteed for this year, and far into the future.
*The NCAA football season begins on Saturday, August 24 with Florida State playing Georgia Tech at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The game will be broadcast live at 12 noon eastern time in Canada on TSN.
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