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The season is finally over, but between you, me, and the fencepost, football season is never truly over. From now until kickoff of the 2016 season, there will be plenty of debates that revolve around "WELL MY TEAM IS BETTER THAN YOUR TEAM."
Thanks to Ryan Brewer, assistant professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, now YOU can hold some unique ammunition for your MAC team's valuation needs. Brewer, as he does every year, conducted his annual study for finding the value of college football programs, which was released earlier this week. Ohio State was the highest valued of the 128 eligible teams.
According to the Wall Street Journal, he analyzes a program's revenues and expenses while making cash-flow assessments, risk assessments, and growth projections. After finding these numbers out, Brewer can calculate how much a college football team would cost on the open market.
Below are Brewers final calculations for 2015, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
School | National Rank | Value (in millions) |
Central Michigan | 70 | $53.93 |
Ohio | 90 | $17.63 |
Northern Illinois | 96 | $14.66 |
Buffalo | 97 | $14.65 |
Akron | 99 | $13.17 |
Western Michigan | 100 | $13.01 |
Toledo | 102 | $12.61 |
Ball State | 105 | $11.71 |
Bowling Green | 107 | $11.28 |
Miami(OH) | 108 | $11.23 |
Kent State | 110 | $9.17 |
Eastern Michigan | 112 | $8.57 |
One significant note that pops out immediately is how much more Central Michigan is valued over every other MAC program. The second closest school, Ohio, is valued about $36.3 million dollars less than Central Michigan. Some other schools that were valued lower than Central Michigan include Duke, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Houston, Colorado State, and Army.
Another eye-opening stat was that 12 out of 13 MAC programs were valued in the bottom 40 across the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Also, 7 of those schools were included in the bottom 30 in the nation. UMass was not even considered on Ryan Brewer's study because he did not investigate the 15 least valued programs competing on an FBS level.
Around the country the average cost of an FBS program dropped 1.8% from 2014. Despite the value of FBS programs on the decline, cash flow increased 18% while revenue increased about 10%. Some possible reasons for the average value decline include increasing concussion issues, and the massive decrease in viewers for the College Football Playoff. In 2014 four FBS teams were valued over $900 million dollars. In 2015 Ohio State was the only school valued over $900 million dollars.
Ohio State takes the number 1 spot in the nation valuing out at about $946.61 million dollars. Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Alabama round out the top 5 in the country.
Why is Central Michigan valued so much higher than every other MAC program? Will the average cost of a FBS program continue to decline? Join the discussion below!