For years, programs have been searching for ways to recreate the Nick Saban formula, and Texas has now entered into that arena with the hiring of former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Naturally, this has now opened the door for fans of the Longhorns and Crimson Tide to interact more frequently online, especially with the upcoming home-and-home series set to begin in 2022.
It seems as if the debate between the two schools has already begun in the form of one online exchange between two fans with a debate over which school has the bigger brand. One Alabama fan shared a story from a recruit who told him that Texas’ pitch was that the player would come to the “biggest brand in football.”
The Crimson Tide fan with the Twitter handle of “@GoatLatia” disagreed, highlighting the discrepancy of social media followers from each school’s Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Lol a recruit told me 1pitch Texas used on him recently was “come sign 2the biggest brand in football” We both went to view the social media numbers & both ended up laughing. Just bc old rich white men donate their oil money to dictate the school doesn’t make u the biggest BRAND! pic.twitter.com/oU8JhWB3mC
— TC. (@GoatLatia) February 27, 2021
The Crimson Tide holds a large lead on both platforms with nearly 1 million on each account. But Texas data analyst and graphic designer Kyle Umlang brought some advanced numbers to the table with financial evaluations of profit, brand value and more.
Brand Value
• $1.1B Texas
• $1.0B BamaTicket Sales
• $44M Texas
• $39M BamaTotal Revenue
• $157M Texas
• $111M BamaTotal Profit
• $114M Texas
• $48M BamaOwn Network/Best Logo
• TexasJust bc people follow you doesnt make u the biggest BRAND#ThisIsTexas #HookEm https://t.co/Lgqx4NzUNU
— Kyle Umlang (@kyleumlang) February 28, 2021
But did this definitively answer the question posed between the fans?
Well, it is hard to argue with the numbers.
Financially speaking Texas has a large lead in the brand space. With a total brand value of 1.1 billion compared to Alabama’s 1.0 billion, it’s a bit of a definitive margin.
If the numbers laid out by Umlang prove anything, it’s that big brands and big profits don’t make up a good football team. It is important for universities to grow their individual brands and the Longhorns have done so to a phenomenal degree.
But the school hasn’t quite been able to leverage the brand into hiring phenomenal coaches or recruiting elite talent that competes with the top crop of college football teams.
To have such a large amount of annual profit is a massive accomplishment in and of itself, but how you are able to use it could make the difference in what kind of program you have.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
