Good grief people. Take a little time to read the metrics used for this ranking:
As an answer to this question on the collegiate side of the business, Navigate created the Brand Value Index by taking into account three primary variables:
- Revenue per Fan – Total revenue reported by the athletic department divided up between the estimated number of fans across the country. This variable is used to take into account the passion levels of fans, especially when it comes to spending money to support their teams.
- Fan Base – Estimated number of fans across the country. Overall popularity is the main driver of this variable, which alone is a great indicator of brand equity as the reach is a result of the power of the brand over a long period of time.
- Fan Percent of State Population – Estimated number of fans divided by the total population of the state where the athletic department is located. The ability of a property to become the most popular in its own state and beyond proves the saturation level of the brand in the community.
Yep.
#1 and #3 work very much in Nebraska's favor. And also West Virginia.
It's obviously a very subjective calculation.
I'd suggest Notre Dame has fairly high brand value. But the metrics chosen by the author don't support that.
College football programs who are the only team in their state - or the only "major" team in their state - benefit greatly from this. Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and West Virginia are obvious choices, but the same logic would apply to Wyoming or even Boise State.
Notre Dame suffers here because the population of Indiana is split three ways - Notre Dame, Indiana and Purdue. Compare that to Iowa, where it's just split between two teams (Hawkeyes and Cyclones), or Nebraska where The Cornhusker State and The Cornhusker Football team are basically a 1-to-1 overlap.
I would argue that Metric #2 (national fanbase) and Metric #3 (local/state fanbase) should somehow be weighted differently. You really can't make the assertion that all ten of the teams shown are a more "valuable" brand than Notre Dame. I'll grant you an argument for teams like Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama or LSU, but there's no way Iowa carries more prestige than the Irish.
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