Where Clemson is in top college athletic programs valuations ranking

Graham Neff presides over one of the most highly-valued programs from a monetary standpoint.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Thursday, December 19 2024

CNBC used some tools recently to assess a monetary valuation on where Clemson falls in the Top 75 athletic programs nationwide.

The ranking assessed Clemson at No. 16 overall with a $800 million valuation and $196 million in generated revenue.

How CNBC got to the data: The information used to compile the valuations comes courtesy of Jason Belzer, publisher of AthleticDirectorU, who has advised universities on name, image and likeness deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity. AthleticDirectorU has an expansive database of college athletic program financials and information.

The revenue figures are from the Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for the fiscal year 2023. The list is reflective of the current enterprise value of each program, starting with a base revenue multiple of four for all institutions, and then adjusting the multiple for variables, including conference affiliation, estimated NIL spend, school subsidies, number of alumni and other factors that can catalyze future revenue growth and profitability.

Ohio State paces the list with a $1.318 billion valuation, followed by Saturday football foe Texas, at $1.281 billion.

Clemson is joined by common foes in the Top 30 in Stanford (No. 23; $687M), Florida State (No. 24; $673M), Duke (No. 26; $659M) and South Carolina (No. 30; $650M).

CFP teams in CNBC Top 75 programs valuation

Ohio State (1) - $1.318B

Texas (2) - $1.281B

Notre Dame (6) - $969M

Georgia (7) - $950M

Tennessee (9) - $940M

Penn State (11) - $924M

Clemson (16) - $800M

Oregon (17) - $780M

Indiana (28) - $653M

SMU (65) - $327M

Arizona State (68) - $279M