The 20 most valuable college football franchises

[Xstatic1]

wowza, had nooooooooo idea how much revenue college football teams generate. duhhh!

In the past few years, there's been a big push by major college football teams to increase revenue through massive stadium expansions, lucrative premium seating and rich sponsorship and broadcast deals--the same blueprint the National Football League used for decades to create billion-dollar franchises.

The game plan is working in college, albeit on a much smaller scale: Last year, 10 college football teams raked in at least $45 million in revenues--among them, the University of Notre Dame, University of Georgia, Ohio State and Auburn University--compared to none five years ago.

Of course, college teams aren't sold in the open market like NFL teams. But the revenue they generate is extremely valuable. Our second annual ranking of the most valuable teams in college football is based on what the football programs contribute to four important beneficiaries: their university (the value of contributions from football to the institution for academic purposes, including scholarship payments for football players); athletic department (the net profit generated by the football program ultimately retained by the department); conference (the distribution of bowl game revenue); and local communities with a vested interest in the team (incremental spending in the county during home-game weekends). Our system weighs those four elements in declining order. This year's rankings were expanded from 15 to 20 teams.

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, worth $101 million, is the most valuable team in college football. Unlike the other programs on our list, Notre Dame's athletic department operates under the umbrella of the university and is not run as its own distinct entity. As a result, a much higher share of profits are retained by university for academic use. The football team's contribution to academics totaled $21.1 million for the 2006-2007 season--that's as much as the next five most valuable teams contributed to their respective schools combined. Operating independent of the conference system allows Notre Dame to keep the entire $9 million in annual television revenue it gets from NBC, owned by General Electric.

To read the entire article: http://abcnews.go.com/Business...tory?id=3904670&page=1

T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N!

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Other - Oregon Ducks
College Football > NFL
True - all the way through high school.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Other. UConn, it's where I played college ball. Go Huskies!

 

[aphex]

GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sash1]

other - wvu
college > nfl
false - too busy being the best 800m runner in the state to play football

 

[RapidSnail]

I really like the Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Volunteers, but I picked the Longhorns. I'm not really a die-hard fan, though I am a fan.

 

[ed21x]

Always a fan of Cal, although rooting for USC because they give credibility to the PAC-10

 

[GTaudiophile]

Other: Georgia Tech

 

[Rogodin2]

No vote here, I can't watch football-it's both painful and impossible.

Rogo

 

[slsmnaz]

Tennessee
College>NFL
Played thru HS

 

[Feldenak]

Auburn
College>NFL
Never played "organized" football unless college intramurals counts

 

[Connoisseur]

Other: Rutgers
College > NFL
I've played pickup games with friends.. that counts right? RIGHT??

 

[BigJ]

None
College > NFL
Once scored four touchdowns in a single game for Polk High.

 

[Juno]

rutgers
college > nfl
played soccer rather than football

 

[toekramp]

Virginia Tech
NFL > College
No

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: BigJ
None
College > NFL
Once scored four touchdowns in a single game for Polk High.

Oh, Al!

Wolverines
College > NFL
Nothing organized

 

[zach0624]

U of Washington, Husky all the way!!! Locker had a pretty decent freshman year all we can hope for is a better secondary
College is way more entertaining than the NFL
I play basketball

 

[zach0624]

U of Washington, Husky all the way!!! Locker had a pretty decent freshman year all we can hope for is a better secondary
College is way more entertaining than the NFL
I play basketball

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: zach0624
U of Washington, Husky all the way!!! Locker had a pretty decent freshman year all we can hope for is a better secondary
College is way more entertaining than the NFL
I play basketball

42-35. WAZZU, and now I've got basketball season to look forward to.

 

[daveymark]

you forgot the last question:

As a gator fan, what color jorts do you wear?
-dark blue
-stonewashed

 

[pyonir]

Can you please add an option under the "stance" question for "love them both equally"? Cause that's me...i couldn't pick just one or the other as my favorite.

As for fav team, other: Florida State. I've been an FSU fan for as long as i can remember.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

reading stuff on forbes is such a pain in the ass
thats my opinion

 

[hdeck]

hook 'em horns

 

[thebigdude]

WVU

 

[Anubis]

could not care less about college FB
NFL > College
No, town didnt even have football when i was a kid, everyone played soccer