North Carolina Men's Hoops Team Again Ranks As Most Valuable
The Univ. of North Carolina (UNC) men's basketball team is "once again the most valuable team in college basketball," worth $25.9M, according to Peter Schwartz in the second annual ranking of the most valuable college basketball teams for FORBES. UNC last year generated $16.4M of operating income, second only to $16.6M for the Univ. of Louisville, making UNC "one of only a handful of colleges that made more money from basketball than football." UNC merchandise, "including jerseys adorned with the numbers of famed alums like Michael Jordan and Vince Carter, outsold goods" from the other 11 ACC schools "for the 13th consecutive year." The Univ. of Kansas (KU) ranked as the fifth most valuable team, at $21.7M, up three spots from last year after winning the '08 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Basketball-related merchandise royalties for KU, "driven by sales of Final Four emblazoned products, totaled $2[M] and accounted for 80[%] of the school's licensing business." The FORBES rankings are "based on the money that men's basketball programs contribute to four important beneficiaries: their university; athletic department; conference; and local communities" (FORBES.com, 3/16).
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'08-09 FORBES' MOST-VALUABLE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PROGRAMS
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'08-09 RANK
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PREV. RANK
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SCHOOL
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'08-09 VALUE
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'08-09 OPERATING INCOME
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'07-08 VALUE
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1
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1
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North Carolina
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$25.9M
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$16.4M
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$26.0M
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2
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2
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Kentucky
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$25.4M
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$16.0M
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$24.9M
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3
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3
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Louisville
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$24.1M
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$16.6M
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$24.4M
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4
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6
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Indiana
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$22.3M
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$16.1M
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$19.4M
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5
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8
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Kansas
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$21.7M
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$12.9M
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$16.0M
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6
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4
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Arizona
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$21.0M
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$12.0M
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$22.7M
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7
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7
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Illinois
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$19.6M
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$12.8M
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$19.4M
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8
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5
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Duke
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$16.8M
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$6.6M
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$22.6M
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9
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17
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Maryland
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$16.7M
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$10.8M
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$13.1M
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10
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10
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Ohio State
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$16.1M
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$9.6M
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$15.3M
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11
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9
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Wisconsin
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$15.8M
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$9.6M
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$15.7M
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12
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18
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Syracuse
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$15.5M
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$9.1M
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$12.7M
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13
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14
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UCLA
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$15.4M
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$8.1M
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$13.6M
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14
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16
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Michigan State
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$15.0M
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$9.0M
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$13.4M
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15
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19
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Arkansas
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$14.4M
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$10.4M
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$12.6M
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16
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NR
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UNLV
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$13.8M
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$9.1M
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n/a
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17
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20
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Xavier
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$13.1M
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$7.9M
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$10.7M
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18
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13
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North Carolina State
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$12.8M
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$7.8M
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$13.6M
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19
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NR
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Wake Forest
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$12.8M
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$8.5M
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n/a
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20
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NR
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Pittsburgh
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$12.6M
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$6.8M
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n/a
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NOTES: Rankings are based on what the basketball programs contribute to four important beneficiaries (in order of weight): (1) the value of contributions from the basketball program to the institution for academic purposes, including scholarships for basketball players; (2) the net profit generated by the basketball program retained by the athletic department; (3) the value contributed to conference peers via post-season tournament revenue; (4) estimated direct spending by visitors to the county attributable to home basketball games. Operating income figures listed are the team's revenues less their operating expense.
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