Where Tennessee is ranked on CNBC's top-75 most valuable college sports programs
Tennessee’s has the ninth most valuable athletic department in college sports, according to a ranking this week from CNBC. Ohio State was No. 1 on the list, ahead of Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and Nebraska.
The valuation of the Vols and Lady Vols is $940 million after the athletic department made $202 million in revenue in 2023, according to the CNBC report.
The Ohio State athletic department was valued at $1.32 billion, one of four programs over $1 billion. Texas was valued at $1.28 billion, Texas A&M was $1.26 billion and Michigan was $1.06 billion.
Tennessee was one of just 12 programs that made more than $200 million in revenue. Ohio State was also the highest in that category, at $280 million.
All 16 SEC programs were ranked on CNBC’s top 75, all at No. 43 or higher. There were three SEC programs in the top five, six in the top 10 and 11 in the top 20.
“In aggregate, the SEC is worth $13.3 billion,” CNBC’s Michael Ozanian wrote, “an average of $832 million per school; followed by the Big Ten at $13.2 billion, an average of $734 million per school; the ACC at $9.6 billion, or $562 million per school; and the Big 12, at $6.7 billion, or $420 million per school.”
SEC Program in CNBC’s Top 75
| School | CNBC Top 75 Rank | Value | 2023 Revenue |
| Texas | No. 2 | $1.28 billion | $271million |
| Texas A&M | No. 3 | $1.26 billion | $279 million |
| Alabama | No. 5 | $978 million | $200 million |
| Georgia | No. 7 | $950 million | $210 million |
| Tennessee | No. 9 | $940 million | $202 million |
| Oklahoma | No. 10 | $928 million | $199 million |
| LSU | No. 13 | $916 million | $200 million |
| Florida | No. 14 | $865 million | $189 million |
| Arkansas | No. 18 | $776 million | $167 million |
| Kentucky | No. 19 | $775 million | $174 million |
| Auburn | No. 20 | $772 million | $195 million |
| Ole Miss | No. 29 | $651 million | $142 million |
| South Carolina | No. 30 | $650 million | $160 million |
| Missouri | No. 35 | $590 million | $142 million |
| Vanderbilt | No. 38 | $551 million | $125 million |
| Mississippi State | No. 43 | $523 million | $116 million |
Tennessee’s athletic department is currently on an unprecedented run of success.
Tony Vitello just led the baseball program to its first national championship, taking the Vols to the College World Series for the third time in four years.
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The Tennessee football team is the No. 9 seed in the new 12-team College Football Playoff and plays at No. 8 Ohio State Saturday night, with a chance to advance to the Rose Bowl, where the Vols haven’t played since New Year’s Day 1945.
The Vols have a waitlist for season tickets that is over 20,000 fans, according to athletic director Danny White, and Tennessee has sold out 20 straight times after selling out its season ticket allotment the last two years.
The Tennessee men’s basketball is coming off just its second Elite Eight appearance and is currently ranked No. 1 in the polls for just the third time in program history. The Vols are 11-0 to start the season, the program’s best start since 1999-2000.
The women’s basketball program is still undefeated, too, under first-year Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell, who has Tennessee at 9-0 and ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25.
