Penn State Football's Value Grew Substantially Despite Disappointing Season

Even after a disappointing season in which Penn State lost six straight games, fired its coach and played in a mid-tier bowl, the football program gained value. In fact, the Nittany Lions' value grew substantially.

According to the Wall Street Journal's latest analysis, the Penn State football program received a valuation of $1.411 billion, 37 percent higher than in 2025. Underscoring the wild college football market, Penn State lost one spot in the top 10 despite being worth $384 million more than last year.

Texas took the top spot from Ohio State in the 2026 report, surging to a value of $2.197 billion. Texas A&M ($1.593 billion) also jumped above Ohio State, whose valuation is $1.547 billion. LSU, Georgia, Michigan and Notre Dame also ranked above Penn State.

Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, conducts the study that assesses a variety of inputs, including revenue, cash flow, university enrollment trends and television viewership numbers. Brewer then calculates what teams would command if they were for sale.

How did Penn State's brand grow so much during a volatile season? The Wall Street Journal article points to general college football trends like playoff expansion and revenue sharing that are bringing more teams into championship contention.

According to Brewer, FBS valuations increased by 46 percent over last year. Indiana, which played Miami for the College Football playoff title, increased its value by 68 percent over last season.

At a local level, Penn State's brand value would include 136 years of football, an alumni network of nearly 800,000 a program that recently made the College Football Playoff semifinals and the nation's second-largest stadium which is undergoing a $700 million renovation.

According to the Journal, Penn State's adjusted football revenue was $193 million, which will continue to grow. Penn State embarked on the Beaver Stadium renovation, scheduled to be completed in 2027, in part to bring more revenue-producing opportunities to the venue.

Football represented more than 51 percent of the $220.8 million in revenue that Penn State athletics generated during the 2023-24 fiscal year, the most recent year for which figures are available. Football revenue likely increased significantly in 2024, considering that Penn State set a Beaver Stadium attendance record against Ohio State, hosted a home playoff game and earned revenue from two playoff bowl appearances.

Penn State football fans cheeer on the Nittany Lions during the 2025 White Out game vs. the Oregon Ducks. | James Lang-Imagn Images

Penn State overhauled its football program in 2025, firing James Franklin in October and taking nearly two months to hire Matt Campbell from Iowa State. After an emotional introduction at Beaver Stadium, Campbell set about remaking the Nittany Lions' program.

Campbell brought in 50 new players, including 39 from the transfer portal during the January window, as he replaced nearly half the roster. Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft said that the program entered a "new era" with Campbell.

"Penn State football today emerges tougher, clearer, and more driven than ever before, and we turn a page to a new era," Kraft said. "We are introducing a leader who embodies everything Penn State stands for: A builder, a fighter, a standard bearer of what this place can be at its very best; a coach whose teams compete with a chip on their shoulder and conviction in their hearts; a coach who's committed to shaping complete men, mind, body, character, and purpose, because he believes greatness is forged way beyond just the practice fields

"He doesn't just coach players. He cultivates leaders, scholars, teammates, and future fathers who carry Penn State's values with them for the rest of their lives. Matt Campbell is one of the most respected coaches in the country and he has earned that. Matt Campbell is Penn State: hard-nosed, humble, relentless, a developer of young men, and he's built for championships. He embraces our expectations not as pressure but as a privilege, and with him Penn State football enters a new era of toughness, discipline, accountability, and identity."

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