The figures are in, and Penn State is among America’s most valuable college football programs.
In the Wall Street Journal’s valuation rankings, Penn State comes in No. 8 at $1.41 billion, just ahead of Alabama ($1.40B) and Nebraska ($1.23B).
Each of the top 10 programs are from either the Big Ten or the SEC, with Texas topping the list ($2.19B), followed by Texas A&M ($1.59B), Ohio State ($1.54B), LSU ($1.54B), Georgia ($1.47B), Michigan ($1.46B) and Notre Dame ($1.41B).
The Wall Street Journal’s measures money over wins and rankings. Finance professor Ryan Brewer analyzes each program as if it were up for sale, projecting long-term cash flow from media rights, ticket sales, donations, sponsorships and College Football Playoff payouts. His model weighs TV ratings, enrollment trends, stadium economics and brand sustainability across years of data. The result is an “enterprise value”: what a buyer would theoretically pay for Penn State as an on-going business.
It should come as no surprise that the top two schools are each from Texas, since everything is bigger in Texas.
Ohio State is the No. 1 brand in the Big Ten, and LSU is among the most historic programs in the SEC.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Georgia is the only program with multiple national championships in the 2020s, and Michigan just won its most recent title two years ago.
Notre Dame is Notre Dame, and Alabama is Alabama.
The biggest surprise on this list for some will be Nebraska, which hasn’t been a national title contender in more than a quarter century, and is proof of Brewer’s model going beyond wins and losses.
Penn State opens its 2026 season at home against Marshall Sept. 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 on FS1.
