By Chris Price
Hogs land at No. 13 among Forbes’ Top 25 most valuable college football teams.
The Arkansas Razorbacks may not be in the Top 25 in the Associated Press or Coaches’ polls in 2018, but they are among the most profitable football teams in the nation.
In their first ranking of college football’s most valuable teams since 2015, Forbes ranked the Hogs at No. 13, with $92 million in revenue and $54 million in income. The figures are averages for the 2016, 2015, and 2014 seasons, the three most recent years for which data is available, based on annual financial filings made to the NCAA and Dept. of Education.
“Thanks to the unrivaled passion of our fans and our membership in the Southeastern Conference, the University of Arkansas remains among the top programs in college football,” says University of Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek. “The loyal support of our Razorback Foundation members, season ticket holders and fans help provide valuable resources to invest in our mission of ‘Building Champions and Razorbacks for Life.’”
Razorback revenue was aided by funds raised for the $160 million north end zone addition to Reynolds Razorback Stadium, which added 4,800 seats and new premium suite seating and increased permanent seat capacity to 76,212. As part of the renovation, 4,000 temporary bleacher seats were removed from the south end zone upper deck. It was the second expansion of the stadium since the Hogs joined the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1992. A renovation between 2000-2001 increased seating capacity from 50,019 to 72,000 before the bleachers were added in the south end zone.
The rankings are based on average annual revenue, rounded to the nearest million. Ties in revenue were broken using average profits, and any ties in both areas were broken by using single-season revenue for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The tie-breaker helped pushed Oregon, which had the same average numbers as Arkansas, to No. 12, one spot ahead of the Hogs.
Arkansas was one of 10 SEC member schools included in the rankings, including No. 1 Texas A&M ($148, $107), No. 4 Alabama ($127, $59), No. 8 Auburn ($112, $61), No. 9 LSU ($112, $56), No. 10 Florida ($111, $67), No. 11 Tennessee ($108, $60), No. 15 South Carolina ($90, $50), No. 16 Georgia ($89, $55), and No. 21 Ole Miss ($80, $42). Only four SEC schools did not make the list, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Vanderbilt.
Each team in the conference received an average of more than $31 million from royalties from the ESPN-affiliated SEC Network and bowl game winnings during the three years included in the Forbes survey. In 2017, the conference’s most recent revenue distribution, each got an average just shy of $41 million.
No conference had more members listed in the Top 25 than the SEC, whose schools have won nine of the last 12 national championships in football. The Big 10 came in second with seven member schools included. The Big 12 and Pac-12 each had three.
Texas A&M was a surprise at the top of the list, moving past in-state archrival No. 2 Texas ($133, $87). With a capital campaign targeted at expanding the team’s stadium capacity to the third largest in college football and building new facilities for its softball and track and field programs, the Aggies received $260 million in contributions from 2014 through 2016, almost double any other school in the same period. A&M directed $119 million of that total to the football team. The Aggies ranked third in ticket revenue, averaging nearly $41 million annually, and sixth in money from royalties and licensing, according to Forbes.
Notre Dame, which does not have a conference affiliation in football, ranked seventh with team revenues of $112 million. The Fighting Irish’s games are broadcast nationally by NBC, which reportedly pays the school $15 million annually to televise its home games.
The 25 most valuable college football teams generate a combined $2.5 billion per year in revenue, and clear more than $1.4 billion annually after expenses, according to Forbes.
