Auburn Tigers a Financial Powerhouse Despite Recent Struggles

The LA Lakers recently sold for a world sports record of $10 billion. There’s big money in college sports, so how much would each college football franchise sell for if they were on the open market?

In their latest series of listings and tier articles, The Athletic decided to estimate the open-market price for each FBS program, including the Auburn Tigers. While far-fetched, it does sound rather interesting. In essence, an FBS program is practically separate from the other sports in its respective athletic department. 

“We factored in everything from prestige and championships to facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios,” wrote Matt Baker on The Athletic. 

Auburn came in at an impressive 13th in the nation at $1.06 billion with an average football revenue conservatively estimated at $118.2 million. 

What’s eyebrow-raising about that number is that 13th nationally is good for only No. 8 in the SEC behind Texas (1), Georgia (2), Alabama (6), Oklahoma (7), Tennessee (9), LSU (10), and Florida (12).

"The Tigers have been in an on-field funk,” wrote Baker. “The national championship trophy Auburn won with Cam Newton is almost old enough to get its driver's license. We slotted the Tigers behind the Gators because Florida remains the flagship school of a large, still-growing state. Auburn is No. 2 in Alabama, a state with a quarter of the residents (5.2 million)."

Without a doubt, “funk” could be the nicest way to frame an atrocious, nightmarish half-decade that did nothing but anger and distress fans. Yet, the sun did rise again. The team does look better and far better than it used to.

And despite the funk, the Auburn Family has still dug into its pockets to support their Tigers during their times of woe. 

As a program, people forget how many Auburn fans exist and how many players they send to the NFL. Granted, they are not Alabama. Good, the program has its own identity.

Despite falling on hard times recently and sharing a relatively small state with the Crimson Tide, the Auburn Tigers are still a financial powerhouse.

How much more valuable can they be when they return to the national stage? Hugh Freeze and his team are aiming to find out in 2025 and beyond.