Study: ASU, Arizona in top 60 among most valuable college football teams
Sep 21, 2017, 2:44 PM | Updated: Sep 22, 2017, 11:33 am
Arizona State University had a media tour for its newly renovated Sun Devil Stadium on Aug. 23, 2016. (Photo by Craig Morgan/Arizona Sports)
(Photo by Craig Morgan/Arizona Sports)
What would college football programs be worth on the market if they were sold as a professional team?
Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus associate professor of finance Ryan Brewer conducted a study to answer this question, and he spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the results.
ASU football came in at No. 26 with a value of $315 million and Arizona ranked No. 51, worth $146 million.
The study took a look at each school’s recent revenues from 2016, measured up against expenses. Before reaching the final value number, Brewer made cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections.
He told the WSJ he also considered the effect of rating declines in the NFL versus steady ratings in the college game, and concerns over concussions, youth participation in football and trends in media consumption.
ASU made headlines when it showed off some of the renovations to Sun Devil Stadium, including one of the biggest video boards in the country, and new facilities for the players in July. The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2018 and likely helped increase the team’s overall value.
In January, ASU announced it was raising season-ticket prices by 5.9 percent on the newly remodeled west side of Sun Devil Stadium and 2.4 percent overall for 35,000-plus seats, according to the Arizona Republic.
Arizona did renovations to Arizona Stadium in 2010, and then-athletic director Greg Byrne proposed a $200 mandatory student fee to help pay for the renovations in February 2016, according to tucson.com
Ohio State ($1.5 billion) is the most valuable team according to the study, and Alabama ($930 million), the current No. 1 team in the country according to the latest AP poll, came in fourth.
