Rounding out the top three this year are another mainstay and one of our biggest surprises in years: Notre Dame ($127 million) and Tennessee ($121 million). Yes, that Tennessee. The Volunteers have been far from successful on the field in their three seasons under Butch Jones, posting just 20 wins and beating only two ranked teams.
Yet, as well get into below, our valuation methodology relies heavily on team earnings directed toward academics and other athletic programs. And while most SEC teams saw a sizable boost in revenue this year, none were as good as Tennessee at maximizing their bottom line and filling their athletic departments coffers (only Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State spent less than the Vols). The Volunteers had a profit margin of 74% of revenue last year, second only to Texas. Just seven other teams in the nation earned more than 60% of revenue.
Thats not an especially new theme in Knoxville Tennessee ranked seventh in value last year at $94 million, again thanks largely to a massive profit margin, and the schools athletic department as a whole was 13th in profitability but this year it was successful enough to push the team ahead of the likes of LSU (No. 4, $111 million), Michigan ($105 million), Georgia ($102 million) and Ohio State ($100 million).