Texas A&M’s football value is climbing in the eyes of The Athletic, and the reasons are easy to see if you’ve been watching where the sport is headed.
In a new piece titled “What if college football teams could be sold? Ranking Power 4 teams by their valuation,” Matt Baker laid out theoretical sales prices for Power 4 programs, turning the sport’s financial gravity into a ranking exercise for fans and alumni. It’s an idea that fits the modern college football moment, where conference realignment, NIL collectives and massive donor bases have reshaped which programs are positioned to thrive.
Texas A&M is one of those schools. The Aggies have long been viewed as a “sleeping giant” because of their size, support and reach, and Baker’s valuation model reflects that upside. He noted that while Texas A&M brings in about $105 million in football revenue, it sits just behind a group that includes programs averaging around $120 million, but the Aggies were still grouped with them because their location and alumni size point to a higher ceiling.
That ceiling looks even higher now under Mike Elko. Texas A&M made the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history last season, and the momentum hasn’t stopped there.
The Aggies had a record 10 players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, return 65% of the 2025 roster, and have added 40-plus newcomers through the transfer portal and the 2026 signing class. Elko also landed a top-ranked transfer portal class and currently holds the No. 1-ranked 2027 recruiting class.
The support behind the program matters, too. The Aggie faithful were recently ranked as the second “most loyal” fanbase in the country, and that kind of consistency helps drive the kind of theoretical value Baker is talking about. Making the CFP with Elko at the helm would only add to that revenue picture.
Texas A&M’s valuation has already moved up. Last year, The Athletic pegged the Aggies at $973 million, ranking them 15th. This year, they came in at $1.05 billion, which placed them 17th ahead of the 2026 season.
Baker wrote: “The Tigers, Cornhuskers and Huskies have all averaged about $120 million in football revenue. The Aggies are a notch behind ($105 million), but we’re lumping them in the same group because their location and alumni size give them a higher upside.
Last year’s CFP appearance was a point of vindication for A&M, too. Auburn was the only one of these programs in our $1 billion club last year.”
If Elko keeps stacking results after signing his six-year extension this offseason, Texas A&M’s number could keep rising.
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