CNBC conducted a study on the most valuable college athletics program in the country, and two schools from Michigan were included in the top 75 list that released Thursday.
Michigan came in at No. 4 in the rankings, with Michigan State also in the top 25, at No. 22 overall. The Wolverines were valuated at $1.06 billion with $230 million in revenue, according to the study, whereas the Spartans were valued at $740 million with $171 million in revenue. Both programs’ valuations were based on figures from 2023.
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Michigan was the second-highest ranked program in valuation in the Big Ten, as Ohio State came in at No. 1 with a $1.32 billion mark. Texas and Texas A&M were listed at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
The study collected that as a whole, the SEC is worth $13.3 billion and the Big Ten is worth nearly the same, at $13.2 billion. However, the Big Ten has more teams in its conference, with SEC teams valued at $832 million per school on averaged, compared to Big Ten teams’ $734 million.
The highest non-SEC or Big Ten school was Notre Dame, who came in at No. 6 at $969 million valuation as a football independent school. Clemson, the highest-ranked team fully in a conference, came in at No. 16 in the study with a valuation of $800 million.
The study included revenue figures from the Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for 2023.
It also included the “expertise of several people knowledgeable about athletic program valuations to determine the rankings, who requested anonymity in order to discuss details of the programs.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan, Michigan State among most valuable athletics programs
