Anyone that casually follows college football or high school recruiting is fully aware of the value elite prospects can have on the field.

Now we actually have some research that indicates just how much revenue elite prospects could be worth to the programs they chose to attend.

Researches at Ohio State have completed a 31-page study that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Sports Economics, according to
Jeff Grabmeier of Ohio State News. The study is titled, “Revenue Per Quality of College Football Recruit.”

Ohio State professor of economics Trevon Logan was a co-author of the study, along with Stephen Bergman, a former Ohio State student.

The researches used Rivals recruiting services as their basis for the recruiting data used in the study.

Using the recruiting data, the researchers used team wins and bowl appearances to calculate the effect the recruits had on team performance. The next step was to see how much revenue was generated by the team’s success on the field.

The data used by the researches came before the College Football Playoff, introduced during the 2014 season, which has only produced more money for college football. So these numbers may be a little low.

The researches also note that given the fact certain schools attract more elite talent, such as Alabama and Ohio State, these figures may not hold up at other institutions. For example, if Vanderbilt landed a five-star prospect, the Commodores aren’t going to reach the pinnacle of college football with that one prospect leading the way.

Based on the study, here are the figures found by the researchers: 

5-star value: $660,136

4-star value: $346,435

3-star value: $153,626

2-star value: cost school $13,012

Here is a link to the 31-page study.