John Swofford still the biggest BETA CUCK in all of sports

For those that don't know:

"ACC presidents are likely to decide Wednesday how and if the league can plan for fall sports during a global pandemic, and among the primary options are a 10-plus-1 and 8-plus-1 football schedule, both of which could include Notre Dame and make the Fighting Irish eligible for the ACC title game."

So full membership privileges without joining the ACC in football.

FSU fans finally seeing the truth (took them way too long).  FSU won't be in the ACC in 20 years.  Sadly, it will be stuck in the ACC for a good part of that.  But even the most brain washed of FSU fans is now seeing the ACC is a waste of a conference.

Simply no benefit to FSU as a football program.  


https://rubbingtherock.com/2020/07/25/john-swofford-acc/

John Swofford is letting the ACC down yet again

Reports came out Friday that the ACC would allow a “no strings attached” option for Notre Dame in 2020 that would provide them with a full ACC schedule and allow them to be eligible for the ACC championship game.

John Swofford announced his retirement a little over a month ago effective the end of the 2020-2021 athletic calendar. He will have served as the ACC commissioner for 24 years when he finally steps down and it cannot come soon enough.

We all know other than UNC and Duke, Swofford has never cared about the ACC in general. Everything he has done over his two decades of service has benefitted the UNC and Duke Basketball programs and not much of anything else.

Giving Notre Dame a pass for 2020 truly shows how little Swofford cares for the programs that give everything they have to conference and wave the conference flag every year – whether they are good or bad.

If the ACC was ever going to have the bargaining power to force Notre Dame into the conference fulltime, it is right now. The Irish know that if they are unable to play a conference schedule in 2020, they have zero chance at the College Football Playoffs in 2020 and Swofford should be using that to his advantage.

https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel-notre-dame-the-most-intriguing-subplot-as-acc-starts-assembling-a-football-schedule/article_0c19ed90-28fb-57b2-b592-d0d8280a9252.html

As Duke coach David Cutcliffe said earlier this month when I asked him if Notre Dame should be included in the conference’s scheduling plans this season: “If they’re willing to share their [NBC] money, sure. You don’t get something for nothing. I would welcome them as a coach to be a part of ACC football.”

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/don%E2%80%99t-care-for-a-dog-however-he-is-right.294195/

ACC Revenue issues and FSU leadership have FSU Athletics looking out over a cliff...

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article244461752.html

"According to documents reviewed by USA Today, the Big Ten distributed an average of $56 million to its 14 established members, the SEC distributed an average of $45 million, the Big 12 an average of $38 million and the Pac-12 an average of $32 million."

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/fsu%E2%80%99s-2018-2019-revenue.294008/

Yeah, so that USA Today database is tricky because not every school does their accounting the same way. And if you just go by the total numbers, it can be deceiving.

But of that $150 million in revenue, $8.4 million came in student fees and $7.2 million in "school funds" that they received from the university. And $40 million came from donors.

So more than $55 million was not what you typically would consider "revenue." But that's how the NCAA counts it.

And that $15.6 million -- student feeds and school funds combined -- is what helped FSU break even on paper.

About $20 million came from ticket sales (which is about $5-$6 million less than they want it to be. It was $25-26 million a few years earlier.) Just over $57 million came from "rights and licensing" and almost $19 million came from "other."

Hope that helps.

2 iraschoffel, Jul 18, 2020

If it's the same story I saw, it was a bit misleading. As Ira noted, taking money from sources like the Seminole Boosters to stay afloat should not be considered "revenue" but guess that's how the NCAA looks at it, and how it was reported in the story.

Here's the latest story with real numbers on where FSU athletics stands financially: Schoffel: Before COVID, wild spending already put college sports in peril

Support the businesses that support Warchant.com: Warchant.com Sponsor Page

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3 Dot Com, Jul 18, 2020

https://floridastate.n.rivals.com/news/five-takes-settling-into-fsu-s-new-financial-reality

The writing has been on the proverbial wall for a few years. Florida State athletics is mired in a financial bear market with no end in sight.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the Seminoles were struggling to make ends meet -- with Seminole Boosters being forced to liquidate assets to shore up the budget. And while the financials for the 2019-20 academic year have not yet been released, the projected losses for that year are expected to be worse.

This is largely due to another disappointing football season and the cancellation of spring sports. Making matters worse, the ACC continues to produce far less revenue than several other Power 5 conferences. And with limited or no fans in the stands this coming football season due to concerns about the virus, FSU’s coffers will almost certainly be in the red for 2020-21.

* Schoffel: Before COVID, wild spending already put college sports in peril

During a recent Board of Trustees meeting, it was reported that FSU could face estimated athletic department losses of $27 million for the fall and spring semesters the coming year. That is on top of $4 million in estimated losses due to 2020 spring sports cancellations.

How can Seminole athletics survive this uncertain future? Here are some thoughts on FSU’s new financial reality and what the long-term ramifications could be for football and athletics overall.

Blue Blood programs?

Over 120,000 votes.
% that view the program as a "Blue Blood"

94% Alabama
92% Ohio State
81% Oklahoma
76% Notre Dame
73% USC
70% Michigan
66% Texas
65% Nebraska
- - - - -
46% PSU
44% FSU
42% Florida
41% LSU
37% Miami
35% Tennessee
31% Clemson
28% UGA
15% Auburn
6% Washington

— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) July 24, 2020

Construction on PC Campus

FSU Panama City’s first residential building coming fall 2021. https://t.co/mLUYaO1kuW pic.twitter.com/UoXwOMexs9

— FSU Panama City (@fsupc) July 22, 2020

FSU 1990s Blast from the Past

Funny follow up on an old factoid from Hokie Mark at accfootballrx.blogspot.com

I heard some talking sports heads agree with each other that the SEC has "been dominant in football for decades". REALLY? I verified this factoid found on AllThingsFSU:

Top 5 finishes in the 1990s:
Florida State: 10
The entire SEC: 11

That is a FACT. pic.twitter.com/4bkbK4TOvy

— Hokie Mark (@mark_hokie) July 18, 2020

ACC College Gameday Numbers

Sure as heck wont be any College Gameday this Fall (Thanks 🇺🇸!) - So these numbers won't change 😢 - UVA, Duke and Wake remain the only ACC schools without a sniff from Gameday since the show started going on location in 1993 pic.twitter.com/BLbaci0zoc

— 𝐎𝐗 (@OX_VT) July 19, 2020

FSU Athletics 2019 Financial #s

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2020/07/16/florida-state-athletics-revenue-expenses-revealed-2019-fiscal-year/5449837002/

The Florida State athletic department spent just over $150 million on its teams during the 2019 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY in partnership with Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The athletic department generated a revenue of just over $152 million. It's the fifth time in the last six years that FSU has generated more total revenue than the department has spent. 

The athletic revenue was the 12th highest in college football in 2019 and highest in the ACC. The next closest ACC program was Louisville at just under $140 million.

FSU finished as the second highest athletic department in total revenue in the state behind No. 9 Florida, which generated nearly $160 million. Miami is a private school and does not release financial information.

The athletic department had two programs that made money during the 2019 fiscal year. 

The football program generated nearly $71.5 million in revenue in 2019 with a total of almost $47.5 million in expenses. The men's basketball program generated just over $15 million in 2019 with $12.3 million in operating expenses.

Baseball was the only other program that generated more than $5 million in revenue ($5.1 million), but had over $6.6 million in operating expenses.

The overall recruiting budget for the FSU athletic department was 15th most across reporting athletic departments in college football during the 2019 fiscal year.

Georgia had the highest overall recruiting budget at nearly $5.2 million. Clemson was sixth at nearly $3.3 million. In-state rival Florida came in just behind FSU at No. 16 with just over $2.5 million spent on recruiting.

FSU's football recruiting was on the higher end as well. UGA spent the most on football recruiting at nearly $3.7 million. In the ACC, Clemson led the way with just over $2.2 million in football recruiting spending. UF spent nearly $1.3 million on recruiting. The numbers listed came from documents provided by the universities.

FSU spent nearly $3.3 million in 2017 on recruiting with $2.3 million of that coming from football. 

https://247sports.com/college/florida-state/board/36/Contents/2019-fsu-athletic-financial-numbers-are-in-149230905/

Interesting data, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019:

Revenue = $152MM, down $15MM+ from $168M in 2018

Operating expenses = $150MM, down from $158MM in 2018....note the "cushion" between total revenue and expenses got much thinner in 2019 (from basically $10MM to $2MM).

Major revenue Sources: Boosters/donations ($40MM); media rights ($30MM); ticket sales ($20MM, down $4MM from 2018); ACC payments other than media ($6.7MM, of which $4.9MM came from bowl revenue); NCAA distribution ($4.5MM).

Only football and basketball were profitable (football and men's basketball)....football generated a profit of $24MM, while men's hoops generated a profit of $2.7MM...all of the other programs, collectively, diminished that gross ~$27MM profit to only $2MM.

Overall, the numbers are not as bad as some might have expected. But it is important to note that things are generally down-trending since fiscal 2018, and the real hardship is likely to be "this" (2020) fiscal year (which closes in only 75 more days). This 2020 and 2021 math both get REALLY ugly if football does not replicate its 2019 performance, which, right now, seems highly unlikely. Interesting times.


 Baseball lost $1.4MM. 
Softball lost about $400,000 (revenue minus expenses). 
Women's basketball lost around $1.8MM. 
Men's and Women's track lost around $2.6MM. 

FSU Athletics slashes budget

FSU fans, who have ignored revenue issues for years, are going to be shocked at how FSU is impacted here.  Sad to see.

https://theosceola.com/fsu-to-slash-athletics-budget-by-20-percent/

Florida State has cut 25 full-time positions from athletics and the boosters and must slash 20 percent from the 2020-21 budget, athletics director David Coburn said in a statement on Friday.

FSU’s athletics budget in recent years has been between $105 million-$110 million, which means more than $21 million must be stripped away through salary cuts, travel expenses and other means. Head coaches have taken “significant salary reductions.”

https://www.wctv.tv/2020/07/10/florida-state-athletics-cuts-25-jobs-slashes-budget-by-20/?fbclid=IwAR0KEAp8bPyJqDBs0eDu20fhdOD_hRxLOzBBbBvCRS0fIPc4e0E9TR4ojgo

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2020/07/10/power-five-conference-revenue-fiscal-year-2019/5414405002/

According to the new documents, covering fiscal years ending June 30:

►The Big Ten brought in $781.5 million, which resulted in payouts of about $55.6 million to each of the 14-team conference’s 12 longest-standing members. Maryland and Rutgers received smaller revenue-share amounts, but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares.

►The 10-team Big 12 reported $439 million and payouts ranging from $38.2 million to $42 million.

►The Atlantic Coast reported $455.4 million (payouts from $27.6 million to $34 million across 14 schools, plus $6.8 million to Notre Dame).

►The Pac-12 reported $530.4 million (payouts of about $32.2 million per school). That figure that does not take into account the equity value of the Pac-12 Networks, the conference’s fully self-owned television and video content provider whose expenses help result in the conference passing less money to its member schools than the other conferences.

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2020/07/revenue-gap-2020-update.html

ACC revenue declines...

Just received #ACC's 2018-19 tax filing. Due to league's contract bowl (Orange) hosting CFP semi, revenue declined 2%, to $455.4M. Average distribution to full members $28.8M, topped by Clemson's $34M. Partial member Notre Dame $6.8M.

— David Teel (@ByDavidTeel) July 10, 2020

Cuts in college sports & budgets (Update)

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/stanford-is-eliminating-11-varsity-sports-after-2021.293690/#post-5143157

the vast majority of sports programs on campus are losing money each year. In this particular year, men's basketball was the only other sport that generated more money than it spent -- to the tune of about $3.4 million. Baseball turns a profit in some seasons, but it actually lost $1.5 million that year.

The deficit for women's basketball was about $1.86 million; for soccer, it was $900,000; it was roughly $500,000 for men's golf and $400,000 for softball. Men's and women's track combined to lose about $2.5 million, while men's and women's swimming came out $1.5 million in the red, and men's and women's tennis were about $1 million in the hole.

Stanford is eliminating 11 varsity sports at conclusion of 2020-21 academic year: men’s & women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed & women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball & wrestling

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 8, 2020

Oklahoma’s athletic department announces budget cuts of approximately $13.7 million for 2020-21 fiscal year, including 10% salary reduction for all employees earning a salary of $1 million or more per year such as Lincoln Riley

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 2, 2020

Michigan's athletic department is projecting a $26.1 million deficit for 2021, including a pay cut for Jim Harbaugh.

➡️ https://t.co/Oyyd3ggZig pic.twitter.com/D07vsXiOfF

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) June 30, 2020

Gary Barta will slash $15M from Iowa athletic spending in plan that assumes full football and basketball seasons https://t.co/T9GfLbBwmG via @hawkcentral

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) June 30, 2020

https://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-sp-uconn-athletics-budget-cuts-20200625-20200624-34hbdod3a5ck7fekotouzwqmta-story.html

Citing Coronavirus budget cuts, UConn is cutting women's rowing, men's tennis, men's cross-country & men's swimming & diving after this academic year.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/facing-revenue-shortfall-georgia-tech-implementing-furloughs/Pnh7EnP21G4Ahr9WOX7BRI/


A year of belt tightening is ahead for Georgia Tech. With revenues from ticket sales projected to fall by 40%, the athletic department will have to pare spending that already has been frugal.

However, making the ends meet will require furloughs for staff across the department, including coaches. The salary budget will be cut by $3.2 million, from $32.5 million to $29.3 million, a 10% decrease. The reduction will be achieved through tiered furloughs and a “critical review of all positions,” according to a budget document.

The furlough program was authorized by the University System of Georgia’s board of regents for the state’s colleges and universities because of an expected drop in state revenues because of COVID-19.

The department will count on $32.5 million from the ACC, largely furnished by ESPN money for the ACC Network. Last year, in the network’s launch season, Tech received $29.2 million, which was under the projected $31.8 million in part because of the cancellation of the ACC men’s basketball tournament. So long as games are played this fall and winter, Tech and its ACC brethren will continue to receive the treasured television money.

To compensate for the losses in football ticket revenue, the department will scoop out 51% more money from its endowment funds — $14.7 million — than last year’s budget. For instance, Lewis said the department will draw 10% from its scholarship endowment fund, double the standard 5% withdrawal, adding another $2-2.5 million to the revenue side.

Booster update

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2020/07/05/seminole-boosters-shows-significant-growth-over-last-decade-work-left-do-florida-state-football-fsu/5371325002/

According to a Board of Trustees meeting earlier this year, the Boosters received $25.9 million in gift commitments in 2013. It jumped to $47.1 million in gift commitments for the 2018 fiscal year. 

The boosters received $64.4 million in gift commitments for the 2019 fiscal year, which is partly due to the Unconquered Campaign that FSU began in Sept. 2018.

The Unconquered Campaign's goal is to put $100 million into new facilities or facility upgrades across nearly every sport at FSU. Included in that $100 million was a $60 million stand-alone football-only facility.

The numbers have not been released for the 2020 fiscal year, which ended earlier this week. The boosters had received nearly $44 million in gift commitments in February, according to the Board of Trustees meeting.

Hulen said that 33% of FSU's operating budget comes from fan-related income including season tickets, donation, concessions, and merchandise. All of those would be greatly impacted by any changes to the football season.

Currently, FSU has sold 20,000 season tickets for the 2020 season under first-year coach Mike Norvell, according to FSU. While the renewal rate has been trending favorably (around 75 percent), that total is around 5,000 less than last season. However, there are season-ticket holders who have not renewed, indicating they want to wait on a final decision regarding the status of the season due to the pandemic. 

Hulen stated that FSU has 362,000 alumni and that 50% of them are under the age of 45. Getting the younger generation of alumni to support is a key for the athletic department and Seminoles Boosters to build up its overall support and endowment like other major programs across the country that have a 50-plus year head start. 

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2020/07/07/paycheck-protection-program-seminole-boosters-inc-coronavirus-pandemic-florida-state-fsu-athletics/5389295002/

According to the database listing, Seminole Boosters was approved for a loan between $1 million to $2 million on April 14 in order to continue to support 54 jobs during the pandemic.

Andy Miller, President and CEO of Seminole Boosters, confirmed to the Democrat that the organization received $1,017,455 through the Payroll Protection Program, but later returned $130,430 after a further review of the terms of the loan.

The $887,725 that was retained, according to Miller, was used to keep the organization fully staffed during a time of uncertainty with regard to how business would be operated.

ACC Network Bias?

Just for the record, I'm OK with bias IF it is bias towards TV ratings...and thus money.  But looking at this list (I hate Miami, but they bring some ratings), it is not.

Standard stupid ACC.

This upcoming week on @accnetwork. List below is the frequency of times each ACC team is shown.

Packer and Durham 17
UNC 15
Duke 10
FSU 8
UVA 8
Clemson 7
GT 7
ND 6
Pitt 5
Syr 5
WF 5
Louisville 4
VT 4
NCSU 3
Miami 2
BC 2

Not a surprising distribution unfortunately.

— Craig DeVault (@wolfvols) July 5, 2020

FSU Athletic Budget news (update)

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2020/07/07/paycheck-protection-program-seminole-boosters-inc-coronavirus-pandemic-florida-state-fsu-athletics/5389295002/

A database released by the United States Small Business Administration includes Seminole Boosters, Inc., on its list of 82,708 small businesses or non-profit organizations that have received a million dollars or more in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program.

The program was enacted this spring during the coronavirus pandemic to allow these businesses and organizations to continue paying their employees.

According to the database listing, Seminole Boosters was approved for a loan between $1 million to $2 million on April 14 in order to continue to support 54 jobs during the pandemic.

Andy Miller, President and CEO of Seminole Boosters, confirmed to the Democrat that the organization received $1,017,455 through the Payroll Protection Program, but later returned $130,430 after a further review of the terms of the loan.

https://theosceola.com/notes-fsu-sets-2019-20-budget-acc-distribution-to-increase/

"Florida State athletics director David Coburn and various administrators found solutions to the fiscal year’s budget through cost-cutting and is now balanced thanks to a $6.15 million additional transfer from Seminole Boosters, Inc. The Booster transfer will be funded by the liquidation of real estate held by the Boosters for such a need.

Coburn and the FSU athletics board met on Wednesday afternoon and approved a proposed 2019-20 budget of $108.07 million – an increase from $106.95 million in 2018-19.

– The projected ACC distribution for 2019-20 is $32,076,073, an increase of $2.37 million from the projected 2018-19 distribution. The additional revenue factors in money expected from the new ACC Network. Then-FSU athletic director Stan Wilcox had said in 2017 that revenue would jump by $8 million – $10 million annually but Coburn said that number is not accurate.

– FSU will receive $4 million to buy gear from Nike, up from a $2.8 million allowance in 2018-19.

– Ross Cobb has been hired from the University of Arizona to be FSU’s new Chief Financial Officer. Longtime FSU athletics administrators Bernie Waxman (Associate AD for Facilities and Event Management) and Dr. Greg Beaumont (Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Academic Services) are retiring this summer.

Former FSU employee charged in defrauding university over $1.2 million

https://www.wctv.tv/2020/06/30/former-fsu-employee-charged-in-defrauding-university-over-12-million/

The Florida State University Police Department has issued warrants for former faculty member Mark A. Rodin following a university-initiated investigation that led to charges of defrauding the university of approximately $1.2 million.

FSU says Rodin, who taught digital media production courses in the College of Communication and Information and long-time director of Seminole Productions, has been charged with one felony count of organized scheme to defraud and 24 counts of grand theft.

The university says Rodin turned himself into the Leon County Detention Facility.

FSU says a discovery by university accountants sparked multiple investigations that found Rodin misdirected funds from IMG, the sports marketing firm that serves FSU’s athletics department, and deposited those funds directly into a private bank account controlled by Rodin.

“Since this wasn’t an FSU contract, we did not know about the improper financial arrangement,” said Vice President for Finance and Administration Kyle Clark. “Mr. Rodin arranged a production deal with IMG directly. The work was carried out on university time with university facilities and materials, but the funds illegally went directly to him, which, in addition to being illegal is also a violation of university policy.

Clark says the investigation is ongoing, but believes the incident is an isolated one.

Rodin was placed on administrative leave in July of 2019 after administrators were alerted to a problem with Seminole Production accounting letters. He resigned on September 11, 2019.