In 2023, the average NFL team made $581 million in revenue, while the top 32 college football teams made $100 million on avg. However…
In 2015, almost $1 million in profit was earned per player on the UT roster. UT's $91 million in profit was higher than the 2015 operating income of 25 out of 32 NFL teams. 22 NCAA teams reported profits higher than the operating income of the lowest-earning NFL team, the Atlanta Falcons.
The above data is almost a decade old, but gives some sense of the scale of the big boy college programs versus the pros. The numbers might be a bit different now, but are probably still in the ball park and germane.
Equally related, and ultimately the driver for much of the revenue is advertising $s, which directly correlates to viewership. In 2023, the top NFL programs delivered a touch north of 20M viewers per game, while the lowest reported NFL team (the Colts) delivered a touch under 5M. Eight college teams delivered more viewers on avg than the Colts. And the top team (UGA) delivered better viewership on avg. than the bottom eight NFL franchises.
Point, is for the big boy programs (call it the top 12 or so), they probably can pay NFL-like salaries, and still have a viable business/program. The problem is what happens to all the other CFP schools? It’s not sustainable across the 130+/- college teams, unless there is some kind of redistribution of income. Fun times and brave new world indeed!
Anybody got other/different data on this question?
In 2015, almost $1 million in profit was earned per player on the UT roster. UT's $91 million in profit was higher than the 2015 operating income of 25 out of 32 NFL teams. 22 NCAA teams reported profits higher than the operating income of the lowest-earning NFL team, the Atlanta Falcons.
The above data is almost a decade old, but gives some sense of the scale of the big boy college programs versus the pros. The numbers might be a bit different now, but are probably still in the ball park and germane.
Equally related, and ultimately the driver for much of the revenue is advertising $s, which directly correlates to viewership. In 2023, the top NFL programs delivered a touch north of 20M viewers per game, while the lowest reported NFL team (the Colts) delivered a touch under 5M. Eight college teams delivered more viewers on avg than the Colts. And the top team (UGA) delivered better viewership on avg. than the bottom eight NFL franchises.
Point, is for the big boy programs (call it the top 12 or so), they probably can pay NFL-like salaries, and still have a viable business/program. The problem is what happens to all the other CFP schools? It’s not sustainable across the 130+/- college teams, unless there is some kind of redistribution of income. Fun times and brave new world indeed!
Anybody got other/different data on this question?
