If private equity enters college sports, where do Mizzou, KU, K-State valuations rank?
How much are the Missouri Tigers, Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State Wildcats worth?
CNBC ranked the 75 most valuable athletic programs, as private equity firms and venture capital enterprises look to invest in college sports. Which schools are in the best position to capitalize?
CNBC enlisted Jason Belzer, publisher of “Athletic Director U,” who has advised schools on name, image and likeness deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity.
Topping the list Ohio State, with an athletic department worth $1.32 billion. Texas is next at $1.28 billion, just ahead of Texas A&M at $1.26 billion. Of the top 15 programs, 14 are from the Big Ten and SEC, the conferences with the biggest media deals.
Where do Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State rank?
The Tigers check in at No. 35 at $590 million. Kansas is 37th at $553 million, and Kansas State 57th at $444 million.
The average SEC school is worth $832 million. The Big 12 average is $420 million.
At Big 12 football media days in Las Vegas last summer, commissioner Brett Yormark said private equity entering college sports “makes a ton of sense.”
“At some point in time it’s going to come here into intercollegiate athletics,” Yormark said. “We’re exploring what that might look like. And a structure and a model of what that looks like is going to be critically important so that we’re not compromising the long-term future of the conference.”
Schools at the lower end of the Power 4 scale will have to find ways to keep up, Belzer told CNBC.
“Schools in the ACC and Big 12, as well as the bottom of the SEC and Big Ten who are generating less local commercial revenue, will have little choice but to take on private capital and operation expertise, or they are all but guaranteed to be left out of the top echelon of competition in the future,” Belzer said.