Texas Tops $2.46 Billion College Football Valuation Ranking

The Texas Longhorns aren’t just college football royalty. They’re now valued like a major professional sports franchise.

As private equity and institutional money push deeper into college athletics, The Athletic attempted to answer a once-unthinkable question ... What would every Power 4 football program be worth if it could be sold?

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Texas landed at the top with an estimated value of $2.46 billion, up from $2.28 billion a year ago. The Longhorns also generated a three-year average annual revenue of roughly $190 million, the highest figure among the programs included in the ranking.

That isn’t simply a reflection of wins and losses.

Texas owns one of the biggest brands in American sports, plays in a massive and rapidly growing market, possesses elite facilities and now competes in the SEC, college football’s most powerful conference.

The Longhorns haven’t won a national championship since the 2005 season, but their financial machine hasn’t needed a recent trophy to keep growing.

Arch Manning and the current roster may eventually change the championship part of the equation. Financially, however, Texas is already operating from the sport’s mountaintop.

Because college football teams aren’t openly bought and sold like NFL or MLB franchises, The Athletic built its model using professional sports transactions, athletic department financial records, revenue averages, conference membership, market demographics and overall brand strength.

The model treated SEC and Big Ten programs more like NFL and NBA organizations because of their enormous media revenue and national reach.

Big 12 and ACC schools were compared more closely to MLB and NHL franchises.

Texas’ final number was placed in the neighborhood of the New York Mets’ $2.4 billion sale in 2020. That’s a staggering comparison for a university athletic department, but it shows where major college football is headed.

The top of the list also reinforced the sport’s widening financial divide. Five of the 10 most valuable programs came from the SEC, while four belonged to the Big Ten. Independent powerhouse Notre Dame claimed the remaining spot.

Those numbers matter more now than ever.

The Big 12 and Utah have already explored outside-capital arrangements, and more schools and conferences are searching for ways to fund athlete compensation, facility upgrades and rising operating costs.

Any investor evaluating those opportunities will care deeply about revenue, brand equity and long-term media value.

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Nobody can technically purchase the Longhorns tomorrow.

But if college football ever truly hits the open market, Texas has already established the asking price.