The money comes from TV.
One of the silliest things that takes place in editorial departments of sports business newsrooms is the valuation of professional sports franchises. A franchise is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it if the business is on the market. But the inane reporting has now extended into figuring out how much college sports programs, particularly football programs, are worth. However there are private equity groups who could invest in college sports despite the fact that most of the colleges and universities are owned by states. Two out of every three college football programs lose money.
CNBC, which is being spun off by Comcast into a new company, put out a list of valuations. Ohio State came in at number one on the list at $1.32 billion followed by Texas at $1.28 billion, Texas A&M is at number 3 at $1.26 billion, Michigan at 4 and is allegedly around worth $1.06 billion and Alabama comes in at $978 million. he rest of the top 10 is rounded out with a private school, Notre Dame at $969 million, Georgia at $950 million, Nebraska at $943 million, Tennessee at $940 million and Oklahoma at $928 million. Most of the alleged worth comes from cable TV money and how long that source of revenue will remain at a high level is subject to debate. Cable consumers have been cutting the cord which means cable TV networks are not as lucrative as they once were. The college sports industry has not yet faced the problems that some franchises in Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League are facing with the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group and the loss of millions upon millions of dollars in cable TV revenues. College football and to some extent college basketball are driving the college sports industry for now with TV money.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
University of Texas
