FSU Basketball Arena renovations....a history and questions.

Recently, it has been rumored the FSU athletic department and Seminole Boosters are preparing to upgrade the TLCC.  No firm figures have been floated, but based on recent history and figures spent by other universities for new facilities, an educated guess would put the figure at somewhere around $40 to $75 Million.  This will likely include reupholstering the seats to a Garnet color and some upgrades to the outside of the facility.

This upcoming upgrade makes it an interesting time to look at the history of the TLCC and its financial history.  The TLCC was built around 1982 at an original cost of $33.8 Million.  Of that amount, approximately $12 Million was paid for by the state.  That left the city of Tallahassee, the owner of the facility, with an approximately $21 Million debt when it was built.

 Since that time, there have been a few major upgrades and events that are of interest:

*In 2004, FSU assumed $18 Million in debt on the TLCC in exchange for being given 7 of the 13 board members on the committee that runs the TLCC.

*In 2005, FSU spent $23 Million in upgrades to the TLCC.  This mainly included the sky boxes across the middle of the facility.

*In 2005, FSU spent $10 Million for a practice facility next to the TLCC.

 

*In 2012, FSU acquired the facility:

BOT approves acquisition of Civic Center

"The cost of acquisition is about $7 million - most of it assumed debt - and the university is expected to pick up $4.6 million of the bill. Seminole Boosters Inc. will contribute the remainder. "

FSU trustee board unanimously approves taking over Civic Center

"The need to take over the arena first became apparent to school officials this past basketball season. At the time, the Donald L. Tucker Center was placed on a list of distressed properties. Learning that was agonizing to members of the school's leadership, Barron said.

"All of a sudden, the Civic Center went from doing OK to being a distressed property," Barron said.  He believed financially, taking over the space and renovating it was the best thing for the school to do.  "This is not the time to ask the state for a bond," Barron said. "We have to be frugal, responsible.  "Of a once $25 million bond, only $4.4 million remains to be paid, Barron added."

Just considering those major investments, FSU has spent somewhere in the vicinity of $58 Million on the TLCC.  With an upcoming upgrade to the facility, that figure could rise to somewhere from $98 to $133 Million.  That is a decent sum considering FSU has to share it with monster truck events and other entertainment acts.  It is also interesting when you consider the original price tag was $33.8 million in 1982.

To gain some perspective, in the last 10 years or so, there have been a decent number of new facilities built by some of FSU’s competitors.  Here is a list of some of those facilities and some facts on each of them:

 

UVA

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/john-paul-jones-arena-s670/

3.1 Stars out of 5

Built in 2006

Cost $131 Million

Seats 14K

Miami

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/bankunited-center-s636/

3.6 Stars out of 5

Built in 2003

Cost $48 Million

Seats 8K

UCF

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/ucf-arena-s639/

3.9 Stars out of 5

Built in 2007

Cost $107 Million

Seats 10K

Auburn

Built in 2010

Cost $92 Million

Seats 9K

Maryland

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/comcast-center-s721/

3.7 Stars out of 5

Built in 2002

Cost

Seats 18K

 

Some random rankings of ACC arenas generally show FSU with a facility that is near the very bottom of ACC basketball arenas:

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/d1scourse/2009/Jan/13/arena-rundown-ranking-the-accs-homecourts/

FSU 12 out of 12

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/ranking-the-accs-basketball-arenas

FSU 10 out of 12

There is no doubt that the land the civic center sits on is priceless given FSU’s land lock status.  The area is right across the street from FSU’s campus and with the expansion of FSU closer to the state capital (FSU has received a few downtown buildings from the state in the last few years), it will be even more valuable.  

With talk of facilities, it might be important to discuss revenue, given that basketball is one of the two revenue sports at most college athletic programs.  Let’s look at FSU basketball’s revenue producing ability for fiscal year 2011 (as reported by the businessofcollegesports.com):

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/12/20/acc-financials-10-11/acc-10-11-3/

Of the 12 ACC schools (data prior to recent ACC expansion), there are 24 ‘revenue sports’.  Of those, 3 made $0 or less:  Wake football, BC Basketball, and FSU basketball.  FSU Football made the most at $17 Million.   

To give some perspective to these numbers:

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/12/28/top-50-most-profitable-fbs-football-and-mens-basketball-programs/
 

10-11 Rank	09-10 Rank	School	10-11 Revenue	10-11 Expenses	10-11 Profit
1	1	University of Texas (Football)	$95,749,684	$24,507,352	$71,242,332
2	3	Penn State Univ. (Football)	$72,747,734	$19,519,288	$53,228,446
3	2	Univ. of Georgia (Football)	$74,888,175	$22,036,338	$52,851,837
4	6	Louisiana State Univ. (Football)	$68,510,141	$21,492,741	$47,017,400
5	4	Univ. of Michigan (Football)	$70,300,676	$23,552,233	$46,748,443
6	5	Univ. of Florida (Football)	$72,807,236	$26,263,539	$46,543,697
7	7	Univ. of Alabama (Football)	$76,801,800	$31,580,059	$45,221,741
8	12	Notre Dame (Football)	$68,782,560	$25,164,887	$43,617,673
9	8	Univ. of Tennessee (Football)	$56,831,514	$19,135,650	$37,695,864
10	9	Auburn Univ. (Football)	$76,227,804	$39,069,676	$37,158,128
11	17	Univ. of Arkansas (Football)	$61,131,707	$24,059,193	$37,072,514
12	10	University of Oklahoma (Football)	$58,811,324	$23,191,402	$35,619,922
13	13	University of Nebraska (Football)	$54,712,406	$20,147,302	$34,565,104
14	18	Texas A&M (Football)	$45,414,074	$15,560,216	$29,853,858
15	16	Michigan State Univ. (Football)	$45,040,778	$17,420,499	$27,620,279
16	21	University of Louisville (Basketball)	$40,887,938	$13,336,649	$27,551,289
17	14	Ohio State Univ. (Football)	$60,837,342	$34,373,844	$26,463,498
18	15	Univ. of Iowa (Football)	$44,506,832	$20,510,807	$23,996,025
19	11	Univ. of South Carolina (Football)	$45,464,058	$22,482,479	$22,981,579
20	19	Univ. of Kentucky (Football)	$34,020,276	$14,352,110	$19,668,166
21	22	Univ. of Wisconsin (Football)	$43,296,599	$23,662,925	$19,633,674
22	20	Oklahoma State (Football)	$33,213,396	$13,787,271	$19,426,125
23	27	Univ of Washington (Football)	$39,405,237	$21,306,380	$18,098,857
24	99	Florida State Univ. (Football)	$35,870,789	$18,689,809	$17,180,980
25	30	Univ. of Illinois (Football)	$28,079,694	$12,910,507	$15,169,187
26	29	Duke (Basketball)	$28,917,329	$13,819,529	$15,097,800
27	26	Virginia Tech (Football)	$35,083,799	$20,009,657	$15,074,142
28	33	Univ of Arizona (Basketball)	$21,209,980	$6,918,239	$14,291,741
29	28	Clemson Univ. (Football)	$31,730,042	$17,992,943	$13,737,099
30	25	Univ. of Minnesota (Football)	$30,524,945	$16,985,182	$13,539,763
31	31	North Carolina (Basketball)	$19,672,012	$6,510,942	$13,161,070
32	34	Ohio St. (Basketball)	$17,020,807	$5,251,724	$11,769,083
33	48	Univ of Southern California (Football)	$31,148,724	$19,423,723	$11,725,001
34	41	Syracuse University (Basketball)	$19,017,231	$7,532,455	$11,484,776
35	51	Univ. of North Carolina (Football)	$26,385,760	$15,050,721	$11,335,039
36	37	Arizona State (Football)	$27,842,879	$16,564,598	$11,278,281
37	76	Mississippi State Univ. (Football)	$22,575,985	$11,766,024	$10,809,961
38	38	Texas Tech (Football)	$26,569,287	$15,788,943	$10,780,344
39	23	Univ. of Mississippi (Football)	$28,515,471	$17,764,174	$10,751,297
40	36	North Carolina State (Football)	$21,856,742	$11,329,718	$10,527,024
41	90	University of Louisville (Football)	$25,658,653	$15,582,161	$10,076,492
42	42	Wisconsin (Basketball)	$16,353,313	$6,394,547	$9,958,766
43	46	Indiana (Basketball)	$17,804,586	$7,945,102	$9,859,484
44		Utah (Football)	$21,235,202	$11,426,280	$9,808,922
45	43	Illinois (Basketball)	$15,408,818	$5,630,297	$9,778,521
46	32	University of Colorado (Football)	$25,955,136	$16,308,544	$9,646,592
47	49	Minnesota (Basketball)	$15,141,713	$5,549,650	$9,592,063
48	39	Univ of Oregon (Football)	$27,713,278	$18,198,476	$9,514,802
49	53	Oregon State (Football)	$21,690,794	$12,282,221	$9,408,573
50	61	Iowa State (Football)	$21,862,535	$12,513,317	$9,349,218

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/12/29/51-100-most-profitable-fbs-football-and-basketball-programs/

10-11 Rank	09-10 Rank	School	10-11 Revenue	10-11 Expenses	10-11 Profit	% Invested
51	62	Kansas State (Football)	$19,731,620	$10,867,052	$8,864,568	55.07%
52	56	Northwestern Univ. (Football)	$28,198,769	$19,430,675	$8,768,094	68.91%
53	60	University of Texas (Basketball)	$16,437,705	$8,195,360	$8,242,345	49.86%
54	45	Indiana Univ. (Football)	$24,230,741	$16,112,930	$8,117,811	66.50%
55	40	Univ of Arizona (Football)	$25,448,212	$17,965,169	$7,483,043	70.60%
56	50	Michigan St. (Basketball)	$16,479,208	$9,263,945	$7,215,263	56.22%
57	44	Georgia Tech (Football)	$22,557,020	$15,463,243	$7,093,777	68.55%
58	66	Univ of California, Berkeley (Football)	$24,328,784	$17,398,649	$6,930,135	71.51%
59	58	Univ. of Tennessee (Basketball)	$13,785,893	$6,863,233	$6,922,660	49.78%
60	24	West Virginia University (Football)	$19,960,732	$13,230,226	$6,730,506	66.28%
61	100	Oklahoma State (Basketball)	$12,262,241	$5,658,993	$6,603,248	46.15%
62	52	North Carolina State (Basketball)	$10,490,494	$3,947,120	$6,543,374	37.63%
63	67	Northwestern (Basketball)	$11,018,639	$4,577,278	$6,441,361	41.54%
64	54	University of Pittsburgh  (Basketball)	$13,574,317	$7,181,490	$6,392,827	52.90%
65		UNLV (Basketball)	$10,123,168	$3,806,508	$6,316,660	37.60%
66	71	Univ. of Kentucky (Basketball)	$18,557,243	$12,355,375	$6,201,868	66.58%
67	128	Vanderbilt Univ.  (Football)	$22,455,110	$16,507,997	$5,947,113	73.52%
68	63	Purdue Univ. (Football)	$18,359,413	$12,420,742	$5,938,671	67.65%
69	81	University of Missouri (Basketball)	$11,084,210	$5,391,400	$5,692,810	48.64%
70	68	Marquette (Basketball)	$15,568,569	$10,348,303	$5,220,266	66.47%
71		Boise State (Football)	$12,950,605	$7,834,316	$5,116,289	60.49%
72	55	Univ of California, Los Angeles (Football)	$23,017,910	$17,913,658	$5,104,252	77.82%
73	47	Univ. of Arkansas (Basketball)	$14,608,513	$9,548,135	$5,060,378	65.36%
74	65	Univ of California, Los Angeles (Basketball)	$11,621,364	$6,702,818	$4,918,546	57.68%
75	69	Maryland (Basketball)	$10,965,638	$6,062,659	$4,902,979	55.29%
76		BYU (Football)	$15,664,108	$10,764,814	$4,899,294	68.72%
77	64	Univ of Washington (Basketball)	$10,474,040	$5,702,562	$4,771,478	54.44%
78	80	Penn St. (Basketball)	$9,485,900	$4,851,361	$4,634,539	51.14%
79	78	University of South Florida (Football)	$17,017,821	$12,657,523	$4,360,298	74.38%
80	79	Univ. of Alabama (Basketball)	$11,016,184	$6,819,080	$4,197,104	61.90%
81	98	Purdue (Basketball)	$9,396,189	$5,204,365	$4,191,824	55.39%
82	89	Michigan (Basketball)	$9,154,689	$5,102,129	$4,052,560	55.73%
83	70	Georgia Tech (Basketball)	$8,543,269	$4,625,109	$3,918,160	54.14%
84	35	University of Missouri (Football)	$24,694,807	$20,806,778	$3,888,029	84.26%
85	82	Stanford University (Football)	$19,521,092	$15,888,069	$3,633,023	81.39%
86	86	Washington State (Football)	$12,741,698	$9,193,553	$3,548,145	72.15%
87	75	Wake Forest (Basketball)	$8,261,666	$4,773,315	$3,488,351	57.78%
88	84	Univ. of Georgia (Basketball)	$8,718,363	$5,253,434	$3,464,929	60.26%
89	94	Texas A&M (Basketball)	$9,786,655	$6,340,072	$3,446,583	64.78%
90	111	Duke University (Football)	$18,243,589	$14,837,825	$3,405,764	81.33%
91	95	Clemson (Basketball)	$7,705,630	$4,417,665	$3,287,965	57.33%
92	72	Univ. of South Carolina (Basketball)	$7,849,818	$4,618,566	$3,231,252	58.84%
93		Army (Football)	$8,839,775	$5,620,774	$3,219,001	63.59%
94	77	Virginia Tech (Basketball)	$7,858,609	$4,782,477	$3,076,132	60.86%
95		Cal State – Fresno (Football)	$10,059,929	$7,040,523	$3,019,406	69.99%
96		Wyoming (Football)	$8,677,505	$5,770,034	$2,907,471	66.49%
97	88	Univ. of Mississippi (Basketball)	$7,175,223	$4,270,576	$2,904,647	59.52%
98	85	Mississippi State Univ. (Basketball)	$6,914,565	$4,052,623	$2,861,942	58.61%
99		Utah (Basketball)	$6,220,172	$3,516,570	$2,703,602	56.53%
100	57	West Virginia University  (Basketball)	$7,968,819	$5,333,891	$2,634,928	66

Among all colleges, the number 100 revenue producing school/sport is West Virginia basketball, which produced $2.6 Million.  Over 10 years, that is $26 Million.  That is a huge sum of money and that is the #100 revenue producing school/sport.  It clearly shows what FSU is up against financially

All this information leads to questions with possible upcoming upgrades:

*Can the TLCC be viable in today’s competitive college athletics market?

*Is it wise to reinvest in the TLCC or is a new structure the future?

*Is the TLCC part of the reason for lack of revenue coming from FSU basketball?

*What is the longer term strategy of FSU basketball facilities given the current one is now 3 decades old

*Will the current facility allow FSU to be competitive in the future?