Arkansas Business

Arkansas football is again recognized as one of the 10 most valuable programs in college athletics.

Forbes.com estimates the football program’s value is $83 million, ranking the Razorbacks No. 10 on its annual list. Arkansas lost seven percent of its value, according to Forbes, and could be on track for another dip because of on-field struggles in 2012.

Arkansas, which amassed 21 wins and two bowl appearancs in 2010 and 2011, finished just 4-8 this year. Those struggles prompted this from Forbes.com:

“A disastrous year on the field in 2012 will likely cause another dip next year.”

Forbes.com ranked seven Southeastern Conference teams among its Top 10. Included were No. 4 LSU ($102 million), No. 5 Georgia ($99 million), No. 6 Alabama ($95 million), No. 7 Florida ($93 million), No. 8 Auburn ($85 million), No. 9 Tennessee ($84 million) and Arkansas.

How did Forbes arrive at the values assigned to each school? Here’s an explanation:

Financial data is from the 2011-12 fiscal year, and we standardize revenues and expenses in order to account for differences in each school’s methods of reporting financial data to the Department of Education. Take luxury seating contributions as an example of such a discrepancy. Some schools will allocate a portion of contribution revenue to football while other schools will instead group the income as athletic revenue unallocated by sport, even though football is attributable for its vast majority. Another example is an item like loan collateral, which is included in team expenses by some schools but omitted by others.

Read more here.