CNBC ranks the 75 most valuable college athletic programs
December 19, 2025 • 4m 6s
Melissa Lee (News Anchor)
00:00.070
in
college
sports
valuations
are
soaring
fueled
by
massive
media
deals
expanded
playoffs
conference
realignment
and
the
rise
of
NIL
deals
the
top
seventy
five
athletic
programs
are
now
worth
a
total
of
fifty
one
point
two
billion
dollars
up
thirteen
percent
from
twenty
twenty
Melissa Lee (News Anchor)
00:14.950
four
based
on
CNBC
official
college
valuations
list
that
is
out
today
the
university
of
texas
at
austin
tops
the
list
valued
at
almost
one
point
five
billion
followed
by
the
ohio
state
texas
A
and
M
university
of
georgia
and
the
university
of
michigan
joining
us
now
the
folks
Melissa Lee (News Anchor)
00:29.990
behind
the
list
CNBC
senior
sports
reporter
michael
ozanian
and
jason
belzer
publisher
of
athletic
director
you
gentlemen
great
to
have
you
with
us
mike
i'm
going
to
start
it
off
with
you
what's
behind
the
list
how
did
you
create
it
Michael Ozanian (Senior Sports Reporter)
00:41.830
well
the
list
right
now
is
basically
being
driven
by
the
TV
deals
and
you
see
that
with
the
top
of
the
list
the
athletic
programs
and
the
big
ten
and
the
SEC
those
conferences
have
the
biggest
TV
deals
in
college
sports
university
of
texas
usurped
ohio
state
who
is
number
one
Michael Ozanian (Senior Sports Reporter)
00:58.590
last
year
university
of
texas
has
the
highest
revenue
of
any
athletic
program
they
had
a
huge
surge
in
donor
money
last
year
which
was
a
big
reason
why
their
revenue
went
up
Tim Seymour (?)
01:10.910
mike
as
you
look
at
the
college
football
landscape
and
the
amount
of
money
that's
being
put
into
the
NILS
it's
almost
seemingly
changed
the
landscape
of
the
game
and
it
seems
to
be
growing
in
fact
many
of
these
college
athletes
will
make
more
money
in
college
than
they
could
Tim Seymour (?)
01:24.510
ever
dream
of
making
in
the
pros
who
are
some
i
would
just
say
unexpected
winners
here
is
it
is
it
going
to
continue
to
be
the
student
athletes
or
is
it
going
to
be
some
of
the
schools
that
maybe
never
got
into
the
top
five
who
now
have
repositioned
i
mean
and
maybe
that
means
Tim Seymour (?)
01:40.710
winning
on
the
on
the
playing
field
i
mean
look
at
vandy
this
year
in
the
SEC
who
never
was
there
but
now
suddenly
is
and
that's
a
self
fulfilling
monetary
payoff
Michael Ozanian (Senior Sports Reporter)
01:49.190
yeah
the
player
portal
right
where
players
are
changing
schools
every
year
i
was
an
offensive
tackle
for
one
school
now
he's
playing
for
another
school
this
year
a
lot
of
that's
driven
by
nil
money
as
you
just
mentioned
him
and
i
think
you
know
look
my
daughter
's
a
freshman
in
Michael Ozanian (Senior Sports Reporter)
02:03.950
indiana
university
right
so
for
her
three
years
ago
they
weren't
on
the
map
as
far
as
college
football
now
they
beat
ohio
state
they're
ranked
number
one
going
into
the
playoffs
that's
the
dynamic
you're
seeing
here
among
college
athletic
programs
principally
football
because
of
Michael Ozanian (Senior Sports Reporter)
02:19.790
what
you
just
said
to
him
Guy Adami (?)
02:21.190
so
jason
when
you
when
you
look
at
the
conflicts
of
interest
or
potential
conflicts
of
interest
when
you
look
at
these
NIL
deals
and
the
boosters
tossing
money
in
there
does
that
have
any
issue
with
inflating
a
lot
of
these
teams
perceived
valuation
when
you
when
you
do
your
Guy Adami (?)
02:37.190
grids
on
these
teams
Jason Belzer (Publisher)
02:39.750
the
answer
is
no
we
take
a
very
objective
approach
to
valuing
these
businesses
we
look
at
their
actual
revenues
media
rights
ticket
sales
sponsorship
nil
does
get
factored
in
but
the
rules
have
changed
substantially
starting
this
past
season
universities
can
pay
student
athletes
Jason Belzer (Publisher)
02:58.830
directly
and
there
is
a
essentially
a
hard
cap
that's
in
place
of
approximately
twenty
point
five
million
dollars
this
year
there
are
some
ways
to
get
above
that
cap
but
the
reality
is
that
technically
ohio
state
and
indiana
are
paying
their
student
athletes
the
same
amount
of
Jason Belzer (Publisher)
03:14.830
money
that
being
said
and
as
mike
kind
of
pointed
out
there
is
a
tremendous
arbitrage
opportunity
the
reason
why
indiana
is
ranked
number
one
going
into
the
playoffs
the
reason
why
they
had
a
heisman
winner
is
because
of
nil
and
there's
a
huge
opportunity
for
an
institution
to
Jason Belzer (Publisher)
03:31.030
be
able
to
boost
its
value
if
it
can
deploy
its
capital
right
to
their
student
athletes
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