College Football: Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma all worth over $1 billion

We knew college football programs were worth a pretty penny, but the net worth of Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas will make your jaw drop.

College football is one of the most popular sports in America these days and it’s not hard to see why. Athletes who aren’t even being paid are giving it their all to earn spots on NFL rosters one day. The purity of the sport is what makes it so interesting.

However, the business that is NCAA football is a lucrative one. In fact, The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing how much each program is worth. The consensus? If your school has a Division 1 college football program, it’s likely worth millions of dollars.

Some are worth slightly more, though. In fact, the article by the WSJ concluded that Ohio State, Texas and Oklahoma are all worth more than $1 billion. That makes those three blue bloods the most valuable programs in the country — and it’s not all that close.

This brings up the ongoing debate: should college athletes get paid? There’s no simple answer to this because it’s easy to see both sides of the argument.

For one, people could argue that athletes are technically getting paid as their school and meal plans are paid for.On the other side of the argument, it could be said that they aren’t truly being paid because they still have to figure out a way to make purchases without a steady paycheck.

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Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow gave his thoughts on the debate:

Burrow has a point. Ohio State’s football program is worth $1.5 billion and athletes get in trouble if they take anything for free. The NCAA is a flawed system right now and it might be a while before it’s smoothed out, but to find out some programs are worth that much is truly eye-opening.