South Carolina football program valued at more than Clemson’s

The South Carolina football program is the 15th most valuable in the country, ahead of No. 24 Clemson, according to story in the Wall Street Journal.

The USC football program is valued at $484.8 million. Clemson comes in at $328.4 million.

The survey cited by the Journal was conducted by a finance professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus.

The Journal reported that the study analyzed what each program would be worth on the open market -- if sold like a pro sports franchise.

Ohio State is the the most valuable college football program at $1.5 billion. Texas and Oklahoma are both valued above $1 billion, and Alabama comes in at No. 4, worth $930 million -- the highest among SEC schools.

South Carolina is eighth among SEC schools, behind No. 5 LSU ($910.9), No. 8 Georgia ($822.3 million), No. 9 Tennessee ($745.6), No. 10 Auburn (724.2 million), No. 11 Florida ($682.0 million) and No. 13 Texas A&M ($522.9 million).

Only Florida State (No. 20 at $385.3 million) is ahead of Clemson among ACC schools.

With five of the most valuable programs in the top 10, the SEC has the highest average team value at $523 million, following by the Big Ten at $416 million, according to the Journal story.

The study took into account revenues, expenses, risk assessments and growth projections, the paper said.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "South Carolina football program valued at more than Clemson’s."