To build on what @northwesty said, football was a big contributor to the rise of the U of C in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It’s arguable that the U of C would not have gained the prominence that it did and endowment that it did without football
More recently, I believe that Duke and ND would not have seen the rise in the rankings and growth in endowment that they have seen in recent decades if it wasn’t for their dominance in basketball and football, respectively.
For that matter, it’s possible that some of the Ivies would be more like Colgate or JHU now if it wasn’t for sports (note that the Ivy League is a sports league, which many people seem to forget).