Which college football programs and athletic departments overall make the most money in college sports? We tackled those questions just about one year ago when we ranked the highest revenue generating athletic departments in the land for the 2010-2011 season.
This year, we’re doing it again courtesy of AL.com and to nobody’s surprise the SEC comprised the majority of the top ten, as usual. Here are the top 20 wealthiest college athletics departments in the country for the 2011-2012 seasons, ranked by football revenue. Yes, there’s a familiar face at No.1…again.
20. South Carolina
Football Revenue: $48.2 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 11-2
Total Revenue: $87.6 million
19. Wisconsin
Football Revenue: $48.7 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 8-6
Total Revenue: $101.5 million
18. Michigan State
Football Revenue: $49.8 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 7-6
Total Revenue: $79 million
17. Iowa
Football Revenue: $50.6 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 4-8
Total Revenue: $97.4 million
16. Oregon
Football Revenue: $51.7 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 12-1
Total Revenue: $73.9 million
15. Washington
Football Revenue: $52.9 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 7-6
Total Revenue: $82.6 million
14. Tennessee
Football Revenue: $53 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 5-7
Total Revenue: $105.9 million
13. Nebraska
Football Revenue: $55.5 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 10-4
Total Revenue: $81.6million
12. Ohio State
Football Revenue: $58.2 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 12-0
Total Revenue: $142 million
11. Oklahoma
Football Revenue: $59.6 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 10-3
Total Revenue: $106.5 million
10. Arkansas
Football Revenue: $63.9 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 4-8
Total Revenue: $99.8 million
9. Penn State
Football Revenue: $66.1 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 8-4
Total Revenue: $108.3 million
8. LSU
Football Revenue: $68.4. million
Football team’s 2012 record: 10-3
Total Revenue: $114 million
7. Notre Dame
Football Revenue: $68.9 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 12-1
Total Revenue: $97.1 million
6. Florida
Football Revenue: $74.6 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 11-2
Total Revenue: $120.3 million
5. Georgia
Football Revenue: $75.2 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 12-2
Total Revenue: $91.7 million
4. Auburn
Football Revenue: $77.4 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 3-9
Total Revenue: $106 million
3. Alabama
Football Revenue: $81.9 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 13-1
Total Revenue: $124.1 million
2. Michigan
Football Revenue: $85 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 8-5
Total Revenue: $128.8 million
1. Texas
Football Revenue: $104.5 million
Football team’s 2012 record: 9-4
Total Revenue: $163.3 million
All data is from AL.com
Raju Kansagra
Auburn’s days of making exceptional returns on investment are numbered. There’s no way they continue to generate that type of money in the short term. It will take them years to get back to where they were during those couple of fluke years with Cam. If anything the most impressive team on this list is Iowa since they don’t spend much to earn that, especially if you look at it on a per win basis!
I don’t necessarily agree with your rhetoric here because Auburn was still able to pull 4 and 5 star recruits with Chizik. They should be just fine moving forward but may be in for another slump of a season, but that will be well worth it for them if they can get their act together in that time frame. Its the SEC…
UT will always be atop this list. There is no college franchise that can even come close to the value the Longhorns have created and that isn’t even going into the Longhorn Network with ESPN. If i’m not mistaken UT’s franchise may be more valuable then the majority of professional sports teams out there, but I could be wrong. Lastly, the amount of revenue on memorabilia alone is probably more than the average university generates as a hole from college football. Nobody can compete with the horns.
Unbelievable how dependent ND is on football for revenue…shows how much their other sports blow
One thing to note is that alot of the profitable schools tend to have high student ticket prices. Michigan is about $250 for student’s season tickets (highest in the Big 10). Penn State second highest with $218. Every one of these schools sell out year after year and I’m sure if ticket prices go up, their revenue will also go up. I tend to respect schools that try to keep their student ticket prices low… after all college football wouldn’t be the same without the students.