How Much Is the Penn State Football Program Worth?

Posted by author January 24, 2025 Football

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Penn State football represents the athletic department’s financial foundation, one of the university’s primary enrollment pitches and an economic driver for Centre County. So what would that be worth on the hyopthetical open market? A new study listed Penn State football’s value above $1 billion.

Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, recently released his most recent analysis of college football valuations, which the Wall Street Journal summarized. Penn State is among nine college football programs with valuations above $1 billion. The Nittany Lions rank seventh on the list at $1.027 billion. Topping the list, of course, is national champion Ohio State, which holds an “enterprise value” of $1.957 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Brewer determined the valuations using a variety of inputs, including revenue, growth patterns and cash-flow drivers, along with other factors such as university enrollment trends and television viewership numbers. Based on those data points, Brewer found, Texas would be valued at nearly $1.9 billion and Michigan at $1.655 billion.

Brewer has been conducting such research for more than a decade and told the Journal that the sport’s future could bring bidding wars for these programs from wealthy and motivated alumni. It’s a fascinating prospect to consider as college football fights an internal feud between amateurism and the for-profit commercial world.

Penn State’s brand value would include 135 years of football, an alumni network of nearly 800,000 a program that recently made the College Football Playoff semifinals and the nation’s second-largest stadium which is undergoing a $700 million renovation. Penn State football also generated more than $113 million in revenue in the latest fiscal year, according to the athletic department’s most recent financial report.

Penn State football generated nearly $113.2 million during the 2023 football season, in which the team went 10-3 and lost to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. Penn State generated $44 million in ticket sales, more than $43 million in media rights and Big Ten revenue and $12.2 million in parking and concessions for home football games.

Football represents more than 51 percent of the $220.8 million in revenue that Penn State athletics generated during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Football revenue for the 2024 season should increase significantly, considering that Penn State set a Beaver Stadium attendance record against Ohio State, hosted a home playoff game and earned revenue from two playoff bowl appearances.

Penn State will require that extra revenue this year, as college athletic departments are set to begin sharing revenue with their athletes. As the Wall Street Journal noted, that could add $20 million to athletic department budgets that participate at peak levels.

Determining sports franchise valuations is a popular enterprise that unveils some surprising numbers. For instance, according to Forbes, the Dallas Cowboys are the world’s most valuable sports franchise at $10.1 billion. The Golden State Warrios ($8.8 billion) are second, followed by the Los Angeles Rams ($7.6 billion) and the New York Yankees ($7.55 billion).