College Football Playoff Championship: Michigan vs. Washington by the Numbers

Lev Akabas The 2023-24 College Football Playoff championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies is a fitting end to the season in multiple ways. Both teams finished the regular season undefeated and were No. 1 and No.

2 in the rankings, respectively. The game is also a matchup between a Big Ten powerhouse in Michigan and a team joining the conference next season in Washington. A quick peek at Sportico’s College Sports Finances Database is all you need to figure out why Washington is making the move.

In the 2021-22 school year, the Huskies spent more on their football team than Michigan in several categories, and thanks to a one-time severance payment Washington totaled $70.5 million in football expenses to Michigan’s $52.4 million. Despite the hefty budget, the Huskies pulled in only $91 million in football revenues, which was dwarfed by the $131.4 million generated by the Wolverines. Let’s dig into the individual categories that make up those totals to see how the two schools stack up: Media Rights Michigan’s football program brought in $37.6 million in media rights revenue in the 2021-22 season, primarily through the Big Ten’s TV deals, whereas the Pac-12’s contracts netted Washington just $23.8 million.

The Big Ten’s even bigger seven-year, $7 billion Big Ten media rights deal with Fox, CBS and NBC that runs through the 2029-30 season began this past fall. Washington decided it would rather get a cut of that lucrative revenue machine than remain in a struggling conference that couldn’t agree on its own next media rights contract. Donations Michigan’s $30.7 million received in football-specific donations led the Big Ten and was good for seventh among FBS public schools.