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New York Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
The simple solution to solve the WNBA's looming ‘Pay Us' labor crisis: MoneyCall
Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic's weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) Name-dropped today: Stud Budz, Lloyd Howell Jr., Sydney Colson, Derrick Rose, Dave Portnoy and Pat McAfee, Sephora, Kim Kardashian, Peacock, Soar the Eagle, Snoop Dogg and more. Let's go: 'Pay us what you owe us' Few pro athletes are as comfortable and willing to speak up as the players of the WNBA, as you saw on and off the court this past weekend in Indianapolis — from message T-shirts to the Stud Budz. (If you don't know the Stud Budz, you must read this explainer.) No one wants to see a lockout. Most everyone — even WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert — agrees the players should be paid more. (At her annual midseason press conference, she even said, 'We want to significantly increase their salary.') Players are meaningfully underpaid relative to the value they drive for the league. And so as the league and players carom towards a brutal labor battle this fall — just as the league is hitting escape velocity — what to do? Advertisement Let's solve this with sensibility: Just match the NBA. In the NBA, 50 percent of league 'basketball-related income' (TV deals, tickets, sponsorships, merch sales) goes to player salaries, split equally among the teams. Currently, the WNBA's current BRI rev split with the players is reported to be anywhere from 75/25 to 90/10 (depending on your accounting), either of which feels archaic. To be sure: Team owners will hate going from 90/10 to 50/50, but their ever-increasing franchise valuations and overall revenue growth will more than make up for it. Let's take an easy example, and focus specifically on TV money: The WNBA's new TV deal, which goes into effect next season, is around $200 million a year. Half would go to player salaries. Split that $100M among the 15 teams in 2026. That's $6.5 million per year per team for salaries, a $5 million increase from the current salary cap. That's a jump in average player salary from $117K to $540K — of course, star players would (and should) get more than role players, just as they do in the NBA. The bottom line is that there is already a standard for how major pro basketball leagues split the basketball-related revenue with players. It can be applied here. It's less a question of what is owed than: 'Pay us … like our pro basketball counterparts in this country.' Much more coming on all this from The Athletic's WNBA reporters. Rocky times for NFLPA, plus instructive WNBA ratings Big talkers from the sports-business industry… NFL, ESPN near NFL Media deal: My colleague Andrew Marchand gets you caught up on the fascinating potential 2025 bookend to the 1987 media deal that you could argue officially put ESPN on the map. Can NFL Media help accelerate ESPN's new direct-to-consumer platform, officially launching in a few weeks? Advertisement Without Clark, WNBA ASG ratings solid: 2.2M didn't come close to matching last year's (Caitlin Clark's WNBA All-Star Game debut), but they were up huge over 2023 B.C. (Before Clark), and it was still the second most-watched WNBA ASG ever. Big 12 turns down Memphis millions: In this avaricious era of college sports realignment, you'd never think a conference would turn down a couple hundred million dollars to add a school — but the Big 12 actually said 'no thanks' to Memphis. NFLPA leadership crisis: Lloyd Howell Jr. out (from two jobs!). JC Tretter out. What does it say about the strength of the most powerful sports league in the world that the players' union is so rudderless? My colleague (and host of our new 'No Free Lunch' podcast) Ndamukong Suh is taking questions from readers (including MoneyCall readers!), and I will be sending him that one. But you should submit your own questions for him: nofreelunch@ Other current obsessions: Sydney Colson doing a stand-up set during WNBA All-Star weekend … Derrick Rose's enthusiasm for chess … Mac Miller bobblehead night in Pittsburgh … the return of 'Happy Gilmore' to the zeitgeist … Peak's new seven-day walking challenge … No, seriously: Stud Budz … ESPN's Pat McAfee vs. Fox's Dave Portnoy? Barstool Sports is partnering with Fox Sports around college football Saturdays and weekday programming. I had to check in with my colleague Andrew Marchand for his take on the latest Fox vs. ESPN battleground: How do you envision the rivalry playing out? 💬 The intrigue is in the big names and traditional media vs. new media. On weekdays, Stephen A. Smith and Mike Greenberg, traditional media, are ESPN stars on mornings and will face Barstool directly. ESPN has a huge advantage in reach, so it will have better TV ratings, but with Pat McAfee, ESPN has leaned into a new way of tallying audience, using YouTube and social — Fox may lean into that. Advertisement On Saturdays, McAfee has been something of a flight risk on 'GameDay,' threatening not to return at times, but now against Dave Portnoy and Barstool on 'Big Noon Kickoff,' I imagine McAfee may be more inclined to stay for the fight. The one misconception is that Portnoy will be used like the every-down panelist McAfee is. Fox will likely mix and match Portnoy to best utilize him, but not on every segment. Get more from Marchand on this on his podcast this week. Data Point: $2.38 billion That was The Athletic's proprietary valuation for the University of Texas' football program — roughly the valuation of the Carolina Panthers when they sold in 2018. Our college football team did valuations for all 68 power-conference teams, and the entire list is definitely worth checking out. Price Increase: NBC's Peacock As of today, Peacock's pricing goes up $3 per month (the cheapest tier, ad-supported, goes from $7.99 to $10.99). It's reductive, but call it the 'live sports tax' — NBC adding the NBA creates valuable new programming for Peacock subscribers, but it wasn't cheap for NBCU to acquire (~$2.5B per year). Brand Launch: Denver Summit FC Love the name. Love the logo and crest. Kudos to the team for letting the fans pick the name. Runner-up: The American. The American Athletic Conference ('AAC') is now just the American Conference ('American'), complete with a very, um, atypical *conference* mascot, Soar the Eagle. Sponsorshipping > Sephora x AUSL: The beauty giant is the presenting sponsor for the softball league's championship series this weekend, doubling down after deals with the Golden State Valkyries and Unrivaled. >Skims x League One Volleyball: Kim Kardashian's company is replicating its WNBA and NBA deal (official underwear) with the start-up volleyball pro league (official loungewear/intimates/sleepwear). Advertisement Investor of the Week: Snoop Dogg Let's get Swansea City that behind-the-scenes TV show deal for the days when new part-owner Snoop comes around the training grounds. Elevator Pitch: WNBA in an NFL stadium Loved this idea from my colleague Richard Deitsch about why the WNBA should schedule the Fever to play in the Colts' stadium and smash the attendance record for a WNBA game. Power Ranking: Top NHL local broadcasts See the full 32-team ranking here. Beat Dan in Connections: Sports edition Wed 7/23: Puzzle #303 Dan's time: 00:27 Try the game here! Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute: How Premier League teams convince players to sign with them. Two more: Back next Wednesday! Here's a sensible 50/50 split: Forward MoneyCall to three colleagues, then to three friends. And, as always, give a (free!) try to all The Athletic's other newsletters.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sporticast 468: ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us'
On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the latest with the WNBA's CBA talks. The women's basketball league and its players are still in negotiations over a new labor accord. A meeting over the weekend at the league's All-Star festivities in Indianapolis did not appear to yield much progress. Players then took the court at the game in black shirts that read, 'Pay Us What You Owe Us.' More from NBA Seeks Supreme Court Review of 'Bork Bill' Case After Split Rulings Former NFLPA President JC Tretter Resigns in Latest Union Shakeup WNBA Players Say 'Pay Us' as Commish Offers Sunny CBA Outlook The hosts talk about the unique dynamics of this labor negotiation, and how much—if at all—to view it through the lens of recent CBA negotiations in major men's leagues. On one hand, players are publicly demanding things that far richer leagues don't share with their players. On the other hand, we've seen other women's leagues recently shoot past the richer men's leagues in terms of what they offer players. The hosts talk about the role that Unrivaled may be playing, either outwardly or inwardly, in the talks. They also talk about the growing anti-player sentiment among conservative media outlets. It seems possible that President Donald Trump could at some point weigh in as well. Speaking of Trump, he said over the weekend that the NFL's Washington Commanders and MLB's Cleveland Guardians should both revert back to their prior names. The two teams changed their mascots in the past half decade because of imagery and language that many considered racist against Native Americans. Trump went as far as to suggest that he could slow the Commanders' push for a new stadium if they don't revert back—even though it's unclear how he might do that. The hosts close by talking about the unraveling of the NFLPA. The football players association has been mired in controversy over the past week, including reporting about collusion with owners, misuse of union funds, allegations against executive director Lloyd Howell from a previous job, and potential conflicts of interest surround Howell and his ongoing consulting for the Carlyle Group. Howell resigned last week, as did chief strategy office (and former president) JC Tretter. (You can subscribe to Sporticast through Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever else you get your podcasts.)
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
What are college football programs actually worth? Experts say from $1.65 billion to $0
On Monday, The Athletic put a price tag on every Power 4 college football team if they could be bought and sold like pro franchises, from Texas (almost $2.4 billion) to Houston ($91 million). Today, we're going to consider a related but different question: How much are those programs actually worth? Advertisement That's a topic being researched by a pair of valuation experts, Kevin Kaiser of the University of Pennsylvania and Jacqueline Garner of Georgia Tech. Although their work is ongoing, their initial figures range from more than $1.6 billion (Ohio State) to … $0. The differences in the questions and answers are both significant and relevant, as they explained in a recent conversation. Because professional sports teams are businesses, it's natural to think of them like any other company or investment: The price you pay reflects how much money you think it will make. That, however, is not how the industry works in practice. The billionaires who buy teams view them as trophy assets to show off, like a superyacht or a van Gogh. 'We don't think of these things as investments when the people buying them are buying them for the consumption benefit of telling their friends they just bought a football team,' said Kaiser, an adjunct full professor of finance at Penn's Wharton School of Business. 'In that sense, they're buying it based on how happy they are, and the price they pay is a reflection of happiness, not (cash flow) value.' The disconnect means the prices for pro franchise transactions — like the $6 billion sales of the Washington Commanders and Boston Celtics — are much higher than how much those teams are actually worth on paper. 'We can't back into a value of that,' said Garner, a senior lecturer at Georgia Tech and former financial economist at the other SEC (the Securities and Exchange Commission). 'There's no set of estimates where we can come up with $6 billion with their cash flows. Even if I make really nice assumptions or nice estimates, I can't come up with $6 billion.' The same idea would apply to theoretical transactions of college football teams. Advertisement Even if the cash flow figures mean a program has little to no financial value, a booster with deep enough pockets will want to buy it, anyway, for the joy and bragging rights of owning their beloved team. If (when?) investment companies fully venture into college sports, they can't and won't approach the process the same way billionaires do in the NFL or NBA. 'They don't need a trophy asset,' Garner said. 'In fact, they'll lose their job with trophy assets.' Instead, those firms have a fiduciary duty to pursue deals that make money. That leads to some of the major lingering questions with college sports and private equity: How will outside groups cause cash flows to grow enough to make it worth their investments? Where does the extra money come from? What expenses get cut? Kaiser envisions another likely scenario. What if a private equity firm that wants to make money partners with a booster who wants a trophy asset? The different perspectives would affect everything from the purchase price to the payouts. 'You can kind of imagine that private equity's going to position themselves to maximize their take from the cash flow and leave the other party stuck with the stump that basically isn't going to generate much cash flow, but they're going to have the happiness of saying they own the team,' Kaiser said. When paying players directly became legal on July 1 through the House vs. NCAA lawsuit settlement, schools added an immediate expense of up to $20.5 million. But that's just Year 1; the payments are expected to increase 4 percent annually after that. If you assume investors seek a 10 percent return on buying a team, Garner and Kaiser said the revenue-sharing era hacks almost $350 million off a program's valuation unless it's offset by things like higher ticket prices. The hit is large enough to wipe out any value from some of the Power 4's smallest revenue generators. Advertisement 'The great teams, the big ones who we all know, they'll be relatively fine,' Kaiser said. 'But relatively fine, still, it hurts to lose $350 million in value overnight. This is, in my view, going to generate a long-term consequence that's probably going to separate the football teams from the universities eventually.' It's hard to consider any college football programs as long-term investments without acknowledging the entire landscape. Conference realignment is relatively quiet at the Power 4 level, but the next seismic wave (if it happens) could be not far off as TV deals for the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and College Football Playoff all expire between 2030-34. The valuation for programs in that future top tier — whatever it looks like — will depend on how much their cash flow increases through things like ticket sales or TV contracts. 'They're going to be getting a lot more cash flows because of this shift vs. other schools, and then the value gap is going to grow wider,' Garner said. How much wider? 'The difference isn't tiny,' Kaiser said. 'It's astronomical, and so the difference in valuation will be astronomical. If suddenly we have D-I teams that are moved out of that premier league or super league or whatever it's going to be, then they're going to be relegated effectively to D-II schools in some respects.'
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
How much would college football teams sell for? Texas leads our Power 4 valuation rankings
Editor's note: This article is part of our Rankings & Tiers series, an evaluation across sport about the key players, front offices, teams, franchises and much more. How much would it take to buy your favorite college football program? As much as college football has drifted toward professionalization, one major difference remains: NCAA teams are not for sale. Not yet, at least. But private equity explorations by schools like Florida State and Boise State led The Athletic to consider a future where the Seminoles and Broncos could be bought and sold, just like the Boston Celtics or Tampa Bay Rays. Advertisement We approached the hypothetical question with a methodology that was part art, part science. We used real-life pro transactions to gauge purchase prices relative to a team's revenue over the past three available years of data. NFL and NBA sales guided our ratios in the SEC and Big Ten, while the MLB and NHL were our rough benchmarks in the ACC and Big 12. For each school in a Power 4 conference (plus Notre Dame), we factored in everything from prestige and championships to facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios. That means treating Notre Dame more like the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston College more like the Kansas City Royals. Because athletic departments isolate and report football revenue differently, our numbers are squishy. Actual transactions are much more complicated than what we did with a spreadsheet or what you see on 'Shark Tank.' But the process is imperfect in the real world, too. What a team sells for (our objective with this story) is not the same as a team's actual value (a story for another day). Buyers routinely pay a premium because there are only so many opportunities to own a sports team. That sentiment would be even stronger in college football, where pre-established allegiances and irrational decisions already run deeper. Though Texas A&M just missed our $1 billion club, it's easy to envision a few Aggies boosters artificially boosting the price to brag about spending 10 figures on their team. Or some Michigan fan paying extra to make sure the Wolverines out-priced Ohio State. Do not take our numbers to the bank, literally or metaphorically. Instead, consider this a fun attempt at blending back-of-the-envelope math with common sense to price college programs like their professional peers — an exercise that's theoretical for now … but might not be much longer. Advertisement Three-year average football revenue: $183 million The Longhorns routinely lead the country in revenue and were the only team to top $200 million in the most recent financial reports. No program came within $25 million of Texas in either of the past two years. The Longhorns haven't won a national title since 2005 but made the College Football Playoff semifinals each of the past two seasons and are among this preseason's top championship contenders. Add in the SEC brand, and Texas looks like the safest investment. Our price tag makes the Longhorns comparable to the 2018 sale of the Carolina Panthers (almost $2.3 billion). Average football revenue: $147 million Though the Bulldogs are second in average revenue and an obvious heavyweight with only five losing seasons in the past 50 years, we still paused at the price and ranking our numbers suggested. Should we really value Georgia higher than the next three teams bunched together on our list? We ultimately justified this placement with demographics. Georgia's population has doubled since 1980, and only three states added more residents from 2020-24, according to the U.S. Census. That overall trend, plus the state's explosion into a top-four football talent producer and Georgia unlocking its potential as a perennial national power under Kirby Smart, gave the Bulldogs the edge as a long-term play. Average football revenue: $116 million Our initial numbers would have put the Buckeyes sixth at $1.5 billion, but that's where the art part of this exercise enters the mix. Ohio State's income was weighed down by a 2023 season with only six home games, and it takes time for a spike from last season's national championship run to show up on the balance sheet. The Buckeyes are also the sport's most recession-proof program with only one losing season in the past 35 years. Advertisement Those factors led us to bump Ohio State here. Average football revenue: $143 million The income doesn't reflect a jump in TV revenue thanks to the contract extension the Irish landed with NBC in 2023; it's large enough to put Notre Dame's paydays within striking distance of SEC/Big Ten programs. Last year's Playoff run helps, too, not that we need to justify the lofty price tag for a team known for putting flakes of real gold on its helmets. Average football revenue: $141 million Michigan boasts the largest stadium and, according to our previous analysis, the largest fan base, too. So why are the Wolverines behind the rival Buckeyes? Their on-field product has been much more inconsistent (five unranked seasons since 2013), and they compete with Michigan State for the share of a smaller state with a weaker population growth. Michigan feels like a slightly riskier bet than Ohio State. Average football revenue: $133 million Alabama was the final team to earn our top revenue multiplier — 13x reported revenue — thanks to the tradition and prestige that predated Nick Saban and will continue to survive after him. Those factors mitigate the risks if the program regresses under Kalen DeBoer (or any of his successors, as we consider the long-term view). Our price puts the Crimson Tide on par with the 2024 sale of the Baltimore Orioles ($1.725 billion) or the expected price tag for the Rays ($1.7 billion). Average football revenue: $135 million Though Oklahoma has spent decades as the most stable program outside of Ohio State, its dominance came in the Big Eight/12, not the SEC. Instead of being one of two unquestioned juggernauts, the Sooners are in danger of being lost in the shuffle (like they were last year). For those reasons, we slotted Oklahoma behind Alabama despite its slightly higher revenue. Advertisement Average football revenue: $71.3 million We took the biggest liberty here. Revenue figures alone would put the Trojans' value in the Nebraska-Wisconsin range ($800 million to $900 million). But those numbers don't reflect the fact that they're adding millions of dollars annually by shedding Pac-12 payouts and receiving full shares from the Big Ten. Add in brand power — where the Trojans are more like Alabama or Oklahoma historically — plus the value of Los Angeles, and this seemed like a reasonable landing spot. Average football revenue: $124.9 million Texas, Notre Dame and Michigan are the only programs that reported more football revenue than Tennessee in the last fiscal year. The Volunteers, however, were outside the top 12 in some pre-pandemic accounting and have a recent history that we can politely call 'volatile.' This price puts them slightly behind the 2023 valuation of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. Average football revenue: $102.9 million Although we'd value the Tigers somewhere below the Texas-Alabama tier but above the Tennessees and Oklahomas, their average football revenue was only 13th nationally. LSU's overall athletic department revenue was in the 8-10 range, which gave us more confidence in our ranking and price. Average football revenue: $109.5 million Penn State is working on upgrading Beaver Stadium with better amenities and a new club area. The renovation will cost up to $700 million but will pay off with increased revenue streams in our scenario. The Nittany Lions will be an interesting school to revisit in five years if they break through this season and live up to their national championship potential after last season's semifinal run. Average football revenue: $98.5 million Advertisement The Gators are also pursuing a major stadium upgrade that would significantly change the revenue picture; in January, the chairperson of the university's board of trustees publicly floated a $1 billion price tag for the project. Florida's downside remains its on-field product. USC is the only other program in our top 12 that has never made the College Football Playoff, and the Gators have suffered through four consecutive seasons without finishing ranked. Average football revenue: $118.2 million Like Florida, the Tigers have been in an on-field funk. The national championship trophy Auburn won with Cam Newton is almost old enough to get its driver's license. We slotted the Tigers behind the Gators because Florida remains the flagship school of a large, still-growing state. Auburn is No. 2 in Alabama, a state with a quarter of the residents (5.2 million). Average football revenue: $90.0 million In prestige and championship potential, the Ducks — the top team on this list that has never won a national title — are probably undervalued here. Nike has made them a national brand, and Dan Lanning has re-established them as a title contender. Though Oregon proved it belongs in the Big Ten by winning the conference championship in Year 1, the Ducks get a half-share payout from the league until the 2030 fiscal year. That reality kept them from being the 14th member of our $1 billion club. Average football revenue: $97.3 million The Aggies have the rabid fan base and demographic upside to be higher. Money has also never been an issue at a program that paid Jimbo Fisher the biggest buyout in college football history (about $77 million). But we're also considering wins and losses because of the money victories bring. Texas A&M is arguably the nation's biggest underachiever with only four top-five finishes and one national title (1939) since the Associated Press poll began in 1936 and zero conference titles since 1998. Advertisement Average football revenue: $107.8 million Like Oregon, the Huskies have Big Ten status but no full Big Ten payday until 2030, and two coaches have led the team to the CFP. Both Washington and Seattle have swelling populations, which helps the sale price. But the location in Seattle cuts the other way, too, as the Huskies share a town with the Seahawks, Mariners and Kraken, plus the MLS' Sounders FC. The Huskies' market faces a higher risk of overcrowding than most peers. Average football revenue: $116.3 million Although the Cornhuskers usually rank in the top 10 in football revenue, they haven't finished ranked since 2012 or even beaten a ranked team since 2016, and they're almost 30 years removed from their last national championship. They also have failed to stand out in the Big Ten. Those factors make Nebraska a shakier investment; the program looks more like a depreciating asset than a team on the rise. The cost puts Nebraska between the sales prices of the NHL's Ottawa Senators ($950 million in 2023) and Pittsburgh Penguins ($900 million in 2021). Average football revenue: $86.7 million The Seminoles' financial future looks better after they settled their dueling lawsuits with the ACC. We can expect Florida State's revenue to jump by eight figures under the conference's new uneven distribution model, which tilts TV payouts toward the programs that attract the most viewers. The settlement agreement also set a clear, manageable exit fee for FSU to join the SEC, Big Ten or theoretical super league. If the Seminoles can stabilize themselves on the field, they should be in position to benefit in conference realignment or other changes to the landscape. Average football revenue: $100.1 million Advertisement The Badgers are the final $100 million-a-year program on our list. The program has stalled (32-26 over the last five seasons) and lacks the tradition of Nebraska or the upside of Washington and Florida State. But even though the floor looks lower than it did a decade ago, it's high enough for Wisconsin — the only program above Division III in the 20th most popular state — to belong in our top 20 with a big gap to the next tier. Average football revenue: $88.6 million Average football revenue: $88.5 million The Hawkeyes and Spartans are virtually identical in revenue and on-field results (Iowa is 123-69 since 2010, while Michigan State is 119-69). We'd classify their standings in the Big Ten and the sport as a whole as about the same, too, even as we game out future realignment scenarios. This price point is on par with average MLS team valuations by Forbes and Sportico. Average football revenue: $78.2 million The Tigers were one of the trickiest to place. They, like Florida State, are positioned to capitalize with the ACC's new payout structure and have a viable escape hatch to the SEC or Big Ten if/when the next realignment wave hits around 2030. Two national championships in the past decade plus a likely preseason top-five roster are also great selling points. But Clemson averaged only 8.2 wins between its 1981 title and Dabo Swinney's first ring (2016). That makes the Tigers' footing feel a little shakier without a gargantuan student body or nearby population to fall back on if the program regresses to its historic mean. Average football revenue: $80.8 million Average football revenue: $75.5 million Average football revenue: $73.8 million Advertisement Miami was also interesting to place beyond the future of its conference, the ACC. The U brings the appeal of south Florida and a marquee name. On the other hand, the program lacks a home stadium, and its recent returns on investment would politely be described as inconsistent. Miami hasn't finished in the top 10 or won a conference title since 2003, its final year in the Big East. We decided to treat Miami the same as middle-of-the-pack SEC programs Arkansas and Ole Miss. Average football revenue: $63.6 million Average football revenue: $70.3 million Average football revenue: $80.2 million Average football revenue: $77.0 million Average football revenue: $74.7 million If UNC seems high, it's because it has more financial upside (beyond whatever happens during Bill Belichick's tenure) than other teams in this ballpark. North Carolina is already the ninth-largest state and growing more than all but Texas and Florida. That's a good sign for the potential growth of a fan base. Assuming academics matter in future college football iterations — probable but not a given — the leaders of Big Ten and SEC schools will both want to be associated with one of the nation's top public schools. South Carolina, Minnesota and Utah are being capped by lower ceilings. TCU's location in Fort Worth (a talent-rich, populous area) was an advantage over many of its Big 12 peers. These prices are in line with Sportico's valuations of the MLS' Chicago Fire FC, FC Dallas, Orlando City SC, the New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake. Average football revenue: $65.0 million Average football revenue: $63.6 million Average football revenue: $67.7 million Average football revenue: $47.9 million Average football revenue: $67.7 million Average football revenue: $67.5 million Average football revenue: $51.0 million Location and demographics were a positive for NC State (the Triangle region has a lot of potential) and a negative for Texas Tech (Lubbock is not Fort Worth). There's little separation between Northwestern and in-state rival Illinois, but the $850 million stadium the Wildcats plan to open in 2026 helps their case. Despite Kentucky's reported revenues (lower than we expected), we figured the Wildcats' spot in the SEC was worth enough to put them ahead of a rival in the next tier. At the high end of this group, Virginia Tech is slightly higher than the $450 million valuation for the WNBA's New York Liberty. Average football revenue: $64.3 million Average football revenue: $57.3 million Average football revenue: $53.1 million Average football revenue: $61.2 million Average football revenue: $49.9 million A year ago, we would have treated Indiana like one of the Big Ten's bottom teams, but a CFP run moved the Hoosiers up a peg. Oklahoma State and Arizona State end up with an almost identical price, as we weighed the Cowboys' greater revenue against the Sun Devils' greater potential (Tempe is in a county that's among the nation's largest in population and recent population growth). Arizona State's CFP run also helps. Louisville lands where we expected as a solid middle-class ACC program. Advertisement Purdue offers more stability and a higher floor than the Big Ten programs beneath it. This cost puts the Boilermakers slightly behind Forbes' valuation for another in-state team, the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Average football revenue: $56.7 million Average football revenue: $42.2 million Average football revenue: $55.2 million Average football revenue: $54.9 million Average football revenue: $54.6 million Average football revenue: $64.7 million Average football revenue: $53.6 million Los Angeles glamor inflates UCLA, just as it did USC, but playing off-campus is a bit of a drawback (despite the fact that it's the Rose Bowl). Although we can't isolate Deion Sanders' impact on Colorado, we conservatively estimated it to be at least $50 million. Why? Without Sanders, the Buffaloes (two 10-win seasons this century) would undoubtedly be lower on this list. But we didn't want to make too much of it because there's no guarantee the bump lasts beyond his tenure, whenever and however it ends. Duke's value was deflated by its history (one top-25 finish in the last six decades) and the fact that it's the school's No. 2 sport behind men's basketball. This price point is comparable to the 2019 expansion fee for a Charlotte club to join MLS ($325 million). Average football revenue: $43.7 million Average football revenue: $50.5 million Average football revenue: $57.6 million Average football revenue: $47.4 million Average football revenue: $46.9 million Average football revenue: $46.0 million Much of the parity-filled Big 12 is, fittingly, clustered together, although BYU's revenues are set to rise now that it's eligible for full payouts from the league. Advertisement Maryland is the oddball here. The Terrapins' last 10-win season was in 2003, and they still seem somewhat out of place in the Big Ten. Losing athletic director Damon Evans to SMU and men's basketball coach Kevin Willard to Villanova led to more questions about the school's finances compared to the rest of the conference. Those department-wide questions trickled into our football analysis. Average football revenue: $51.4 million Average football revenue: $41.7 million Average football revenue: $38.1 million Average football revenue: $35.0 million Average football revenue: $40.3 million Virginia has enough brand power and academic prestige to avoid the bottom of the ACC. Stanford is similar, too, but remember that the Big Ten had the chance to add the Cardinal alongside Oregon and Washington in 2023 but did not do so. That's a concern as we consider the program's future in possible realignment/super league iterations. UCF has billed itself as the future of college football. Regardless of whether you believe that lofty claim, the Knights are positioned for upward mobility thanks to one of the nation's largest enrollments plus a growing alumni base and city (Orlando). Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, unsurprisingly, are our final SEC programs. The Bulldogs would cost the same as the expansion fee for a WNBA franchise. Average football revenue: $39.3 million Average football revenue: $37.6 million Average football revenue: $29.7 million Average football revenue: $43.1 million Average football revenue: $39.5 million Advertisement Average football revenue: $31.0 million Average football revenue: $26.4 million Average football revenue: $22.7 million SMU feels like the outlier in the bottom group, especially after last year's Playoff run. But the Mustangs gave up their TV money to join the ACC, putting a cap on their financial earnings. Rutgers still isn't getting a full share from the Big Ten, and the Scarlet Knights don't have enough upside or brand power to be any higher. Cal shares Stanford's long-term realignment concerns but adds an extra wrinkle as a public institution. Cincinnati and Houston have faced early hiccups transitioning from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12. Both have higher ceilings than Wake Forest, but there's greater risk with the Power 4 newbies, too. Most revenue figures for public schools came from their NCAA financial reports, which we compiled largely through public records requests and schools' websites. Sportico and the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database filled in a few missing pieces. We also used figures submitted by schools to the U.S. Department of Education. If the two sets of numbers were vastly different, we split the difference. Our final revenues were a three-year average. For SEC and Big Ten teams, we set the multiplier range as 5-13x a program's revenue. Because the Big 12 and ACC provide less prestige and more uncertainty, we started with a general range of 4-9x for those teams. Our exercise did not address the new annual expense of up to $20.5 million in paying players, which started July 1. We didn't get into the nitty gritty of assets like stadium values, either. — The Athletic's Scott Dochterman, Matt Brown and Jayson Jenks contributed to this report. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire, Kirby Lee, Erich Schlegel / Getty Images) The Rankings and Tiers series is sponsored by E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Sponsors have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
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Apple races ahead in epic $150M F1 media rights bid
Apple (AAPL) is putting their pedal to the metal in their race for F1 media rights. This week on Yahoo Finance Sports Report, host Joe Pompliano takes a look at some of this week's biggest headlines in the sports business world that you and your portfolio need to know. From Apple's $150 million bid for Formula 1 media rights to FanDuel's $31 billion valuation, sports business is being transformed by big financial plays. Yahoo Sports Senior Writer Frank Schwab joins the show to talk about NFL training camp and what to expect for the league heading into the 2025-26 season. Plus, Learfield CEO Cole Gahagan stops by to discuss college sports marketing and how Learfield is helping schools build revenue in a world of NIL, stadium naming rights, athletic fees, and more. Yahoo Finance Sports Report with Joe Pompliano, a vodcast brought to you by Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports, looks beyond the latest sports business headlines, analyzes all the need-to-know news - the teams, trades, and billion dollar deals - so you and your portfolio will win BIG. Related videos Warren Buffett has set alarm bells ringing on Wall Street These 4 FTSE 100 stocks are currently yielding more than 8%! Restaurants suffer 'devastating' job losses after Reeves tax raid Workers could access pension savings at any age under Labour Yahoo Finance Sports Report is developed and produced by Lauren Pokedoff. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
