The Athletic ranks SEC Football programs from most valuable to least ahead of 2025 season

College football has become a big business. But the question is just how valuable a given program can really be? The answer, according to The Athletic at least, is pretty valuable.

Ahead of the 2025 season, The Athletic ranked every SEC football program from most valuable to least valuable. This comes at a time when college football is becoming more professionalized and rumors of private equity have become more commonplace. The SEC is, on top of that, largely recognized as one of the most prominent in the country. So, it made some sense to wonder what these SEC football programs are actually worth.

The methodology used is interesting as well. The Athletic used real-life pro transactions to gauge the market. NFL and NBA sales became a benchmark for the SEC. From there, prestige factors like championships, facilities, and population trends all played their role. Using spending numbers from programs can be difficult, though. Programs often have “squishy” reporting for revenue, however, which adds its own challenge. Still, for the SEC, a multiplier range of 5-13x a program’s revenue was used. The House settlement and things like stadium value didn’t come into use.

1. Texas: $2.38 billion

One of the two newest members of the SEC, the Texas Longhorns, comes in as the most valuable. The Longhorns have a three-year average football revenue of $183 million. It’s not a surprise that they routinely lead the country in revenue and that no program came within $25 million of Texas in the last two years. Now in the SEC, it’s hard to imagine that changes.

Texas has been to the College Football Playoff in each of the last two years, making the semifinals twice. As a program, they’ve won 34 conference championships, the most recent of which was the Big 12 in 2023. Their four national championships, most recently winning in 2005, are 17th all-time. Now, they hope to get over the hump under head coach Steve Sarkisian.

2. Georgia: $1.92 billion

Since Kirby Smart became the head coach at Georgia, the Bulldogs have been one of the best teams in the SEC. During that time, they’ve won the SEC three times and the national championship twice. That recent success, added with an impressive history, brings the Bulldogs to 17 conference titles and four national championships. That’s tied at 17th all-time.

Georgia’s average annual football revenue is listed at $147 million. Beyond that, Georgia benefits greatly from population shifts. Since 1980, the state’s population has doubled. Only three states have added more residents. That has brought tons of talent to the state, bolstering the program over that time and moving forward.

3. Alabama: $1.74 billion

Perhaps no SEC team has had more success historically than the Alabama Crimson Tide. That includes two runs with arguably the two best coaches that college football has ever seen in Bear Bryant and Nick Saban, though Alabama’s success isn’t limited to them. For its history, the program has 34 conference championships and 18 claimed national championships. That’s the most of any program.

With a listed average annual football revenue of $133 million, Alabama’s success on the field has led to plenty of financial rewards. It’s a valuation of 13x the reported revenue. That price tag that The Athletic has assigned puts the program in the same realm as the Baltimore Orioles.

4. Oklahoma: $1.49 billion

The Oklahoma Sooners joined the SEC at the same time as rival Texas. Now, they have a valuation of $1.49 billion. The Sooners came in with an average annual football revenue of $135 million. Despite having slightly higher revenue than Alabama, they ended up slotted behind the Crimson Tide due to a fear that they could get lost in the shuffle now that they’re in the SEC.

One of college football’s blue bloods, Oklahoma has 50 conference championships and seven national championships. That’s good for seventh all-time. However, the Sooners haven’t won it all since 2000. On top of that, their first season in the SEC was a struggle. So, on the field, Oklahoma is going to want to take a leap forward.

5. Tennessee: $1.37 billion

The Tennessee Volunteers come in as the fifth most valuable SEC program. That’s with $124.9 million in average annual revenue. However, in the last fiscal year, they were up to the fourth-highest revenue among college football programs. So, from that perspective, Tennessee is a program on the rise.

The Volunteers have had a little bit less success historically than their conference peers at this point on the list, but it’s still a strong history for the Volunteers. Tennessee has won 16 conference championships and six claimed national championships, but none since 1998. That’s still good for ninth all-time. On top of that, after inconsistent play in the 21st century, Tennessee made the Playoff for its first time ever in 2024.

6. LSU: $1.23 billion

The LSU Tigers have had a ton of success on the field in the 21st century. Since Nick Saban took over in 2000, the Tigers have won three national championships, under three different head coaches. That brought them to four all-time. It also leaves LSU with 16 conference titles all-time.

With that, LSU has an average football revenue of $102.9 million. That’s 13th nationally, so the program’s overall value is getting a little boost from their recent success. It also bumped their valuation to the top third of the SEC.

7. Florida: $1.08 billion

The Florida Gators are listed with $98.5 million in average football revenue. This comes amid spending on some major renovations to The Swamp. That project could be worth as much as $1 billion. All of that has added to the valuation for the Gators, which remains in the top half of the SEC.

On the field, it’s been a different story in recent seasons, which does hurt their valuation. Florida hasn’t won double-digit games since 2019. Since then, the program has had to buyout one coach, and there have been consistent hot seat rumors about the next. Still, three national championships and eight conference titles, all since 1991, are a good modern history to lean on.

8. Auburn: $1.06 billion

The Auburn Tigers are consistently one of the more interesting teams in the SEC. With 16 conference championships and two claimed national championships, including as recently as 2010, Auburn does have a good history. However, in recent years, it’s been a bit more difficult. Auburn hasn’t won double-digit games since 2017.

With a listed average football revenue of $118.2 million, the Tigers do outpace Florida and LSU ahead of them on this valuation. However, what hurts them is their current on-field situation. The fact that Florida is the flagship school in a larger state, compared to Auburn being what The Athletic described as the second school in Alabama, also impacted their ranking.

9. Texas A&M: $973 million

The Texas A&M Aggies have now been in the SEC for better than a decade. For the majority of that time, they were the only school from Texas in the SEC. Now, that’s a shared role. Still, the Aggies have an average annual revenue for their football program of $97.3 million. Along the way, money never seems to be an issue for the program.

One thing Texas A&M has struggled with his finding success on the national level. The Aggies have won 18 conference titles, but none since 1998 in the Big 12. They also have three claimed national championships. However, the most recent was before the United States entered World War II.

10. Arkansas: $646 million

The Arkansas Razorbacks come in as the 10th most valuable team in the SEC. That’s with $80.8 million in average football revenue. The flagship program in their state, it puts them toward the middle of the pack in valuation among other SEC schools.

For its history, Arkansas has 13 conference titles and a national championship. In recent years, that success hasn’t followed in SEC play. The Razorbacks’ last conference title was in 1989, as a member of the Southwest Conference. That national title came back in 1964. It’s also been since 2011 that they’ve won double-digit games. So, improved on-field play could help improve that valuation.

Rest of The Athletic’s most valuable SEC programs

11. Ole Miss: $591 million
12. South Carolina: $563 million
13. Missouri: $407 million
14. Kentucky: $400 million
15. Mississippi State: $250 million
16. Vanderbilt: $228 million