Iowa State Football Program Receives Interesting Valuation

An estimated valuation for the Iowa State Cyclones football team has been revealed.

Nov 9, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Iowa State Cyclones helmets on the bench during the first quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

To the general public, the Iowa State Cyclones are around the middle of the pack when it comes to college football.

Before head coach Matt Campbell, they were a program that struggled to find consistent success. But during his decade-long tenure leading the team, he brought them immense success.

Unfortunately, over the offseason, Iowa State lost Campbell, who took his talents to the Penn State Nittany Lions. And of course, an abundance of players joined him in Happy Valley, PA.

But the Cyclones were able to make a great hire, bringing in Jimmy Rogers, who was previously with the Washington State Cougars. Like Campbell, some of his best players followed him from his previous job.

Iowa State comes in at No. 48 in college fotball valuation

Jul 8, 2026; Frisco, TX, USA; Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rogers speaks to reporters during Big 12 Conference Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Many are wondering what the valuation of Iowa State would be if it were worth a price. And interestingly enough, The Athletic (subsciprion required) released its estimated valuations for every program.

The Texas Longhorns landed in the first spot, at $2.46 billion USD, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes at $ 2.3 billion USD, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at $ 2.1 billion USD, the Michigan Wolverines at $ 2.0 billion USD, and the Georgia Bulldogs at $ 1.95 billion USD.

The Cyclones were listed in 48th place amongst the bunch. Their program is worth $300 million USD, just one million lower than the year prior, when they were listed at $ 331 million USD. That number put them in 45th place across the country.

They are behind several Big 12 programs in the Utah Utes, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the BYU Cougars, the TCU Horned Frogs, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the Colorado Buffaloes in the rankings.

Cyclones are middle of the pack team in Big 12

Jan 2, 2021; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an Iowa State Cyclones helmet during the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

However, they are above the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Kansas State Wildcats, the Arizona Wildcats, the Baylor Bears, the UCF Knights, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Cincinnati Bearcats, and the Houston Cougars. That puts Iowa State in eighth place in the Big 12, a pretty reasonable number compared to the other teams in the conference.

Overall, it’s definitely a bit of a harsh number for the Cyclones, but not one that is unfair. At this current state, Iowa State has a lot of work to do to bring its program back to prominence, and therefore the valuation isn’t extremely low.

The Cyclones’ season begins on Sept. 5 against the SEMO Redhawks at Jack Trice Stadium, where they look to begin their campaign of proving the evaluation and everyone else wrong, while also having another great season in Ames, IA.