Higher Ed Lawsuit

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/07/24/tallahassee-residents-file-second-suit-against-state-over-university-funds/506852001/

 

The Tallahassee law firm of Stearns Weaver Miller Monday filed the suit on behalf of attorney Thomas Warren and Kathleen Villacorta.

The filing comes just weeks after Alexis S. Geffin, who graduated from the University of Florida this year, and her brother, a Ryan J. Geffin, a 2016 graduate sued, They maintain they were among students who did not receive the intended benefits of more than $1 billion in private donations to Florida colleges and universities.

Warren and Villacorta say the state did not live up to its obligations to match their donations of over $300,000 to Florida State University.

According to the firm, Monday’s suit is a companion donor lawsuit to the lawsuit filed by two recent University of Florida graduates on June 30.


The legal action says the state owes over $1 billion to Florida’s public universities, colleges and students.

That includes an estimated

$159 million for the University of Florida;

more than $49.7 million for Florida State;

$4.5 million for Tallahassee Community College

and $1.2 million for Florida A&M University.

Miami Dade College is owed more than $70 million, the lawsuit alleges.



Warren and Villacorta are asking to represent the universities and its students in a class action against Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida Senate President, and the Florida Speaker of the House.

The suits are the same in that they are based on four separate statutes that obligate the state to “match” private donations made to support higher education through aid, scholarships, and facilities improvements, the firm said.



Now that the state and its representatives have had copies of the recent graduates’ lawsuit for over two weeks, we hope that they will publicly respond to the claims asserted in both,” said Grace Mead, an attorney with Stearns Weaver Miller.

In 2003, Warren and Villacorta, both graduates of Florida State University College of Law, donated $100,000 to the college and to the Florida State University Foundation to establish the Calvin Patterson Civil Rights Endowed Scholarship for Florida State College of Law.

It was earmarked for students “who have demonstrated a significant interest and commitment to further civil rights.”

It was to “serve as a tribute to Calvin Patterson,” a Seminole football player with Warren, who “broke a significant racial barrier” “when he became FSU’s first African-American football player.”

The matching statutes required a 50-percent match for the $100,000 gift, which the state made, adding $50,000 to the scholarship’s permanent endowment.



In December 2011, Warren and Villacorta contributed another $100,000 to the Florida State University College of Law and the Florida State University Foundation to further support the Calvin Patterson Civil Rights Endowed Scholarship.

“We contributed the $100,000 with the understanding that the state would ultimately provide a 50 percent match, but the state never matched,” Warren said.

In August 2015, Warren and Villacorta created a second scholarship endowment—the Coastal and Marine Conservation Student Research Endowment—with a $100,000 donation to FSU and its Foundation. Again, the state failed to match the gift.

“The state’s representatives—in the matching statutes, gift agreements, and a 2011 Department of Education memorandum cited in the complaint—recognized the obligations that it has to the donors to benefit Florida’s students,” Waren said. “Instead, the state has ignored the promises it made for the benefit of our students.”

Warren said he and Villacorta aren’t trying to recover the money they contributed, “but rather seek to compel the state to match the donations.”

The suit alleges that by not matching the gifts from Warren and Villacorta, the state actually reduced the endowment available for those scholarships by about $100,000.

Each suit recognizes that the obligation to match the financial gifts was relaxed during a recession period, but the state was obligated to renew its part of the deal once the economy turned around in 2012 and 2013 and generated billions in surpluses.

“Breaking the promise to pay sums owed for scholarships, aid, and facilities improvements to fund tax cuts and reserves is neither fiscally conservative nor honorable,” Mead said.

New FSU dorms

http://www.wtxl.com/news/building-tallahassee-a-look-at-fsu-s-newest-dorms/article_fe22eb74-73db-11e7-b32c-6f033d91d1f5.html

In February, our Building Tallahassee series looked at development at Florida State University with new residence halls for the fall semester.
The fall semester starts in August -- and Azalea and Magnolia halls are just about ready.

"It gives lots of spaces for them to be able to hang out, get to know each other, work together on academic projects," said Shannon Staten, the executive director of FSU Housing.

The development is a phase that's taken 10 years to complete. The university is in the process of updating student living across campus.
"We tried to develop space that felt like home and felt like community," Staten said.
The two new residence halls will serve 900 students. While more and more student housing options are popping up off-campus, the university says it offers something special for students.

"They can live in very nice, updated space that's beautiful, that feels like home, and get up and walk out the door and be 10 minutes from a class," said Staten.
A special feature of Azalea Hall is a stretch of dining options collectively called "1851" open to students and the public.
"It'll add a buzz to the residence hall," said Staten. "We made the lobby areas and some of the workspace areas and study rooms looking down onto that dining space, so that students feel connected."
Azalea Hall has been open since late June, and Magnolia Hall will be ready before students start moving in at the end of August.

FSU Dept gets new home

Innovation Park‏ @Innovation_Park 2m2 minutes ago

We would like to welcome the FSU Department of Anthropology to Innovation Park!

FSU research licensing

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/07/31/fsu-licensing-research-public-use/509683001/

FSU had 10 license agreements with four options for the fiscal year ending June 30. That compares to seven licenses with three options for the previous fiscal year.

Petscher’s app is among a list of new discoveries with potential for advancement in health care, fitness, and education developed by FSU faculty.

A few of the products were licensed to businesses in Tallahassee.

"We’re getting technologies out that have commercial value,” said Brent Edington, director of FSU’s Office of Commercialization.

“We used to do about five eight years ago and we are doing about 10 a year,” Edington said.  “We should be doing 15, 16, 17 a year. Our primary focus is to get technologies developed off the public money out to the public.”

According to FSU, commercialization agreements signed in the past year include:

Potential drugs to combat the Zika virus have been developed by FSU Professor of Biological Science Hengli Tang’s laboratory and licensed to Spotlight Innovation, a pharmaceutical company advancing technologies to combat rare or emerging diseases.

Tang has also developed monoclonal antibodies to Zika virus proteins, which can be used to identify the Zika virus. Rights to these monoclonal antibodies have been licensed to a local company, BioFront Technologies.

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Bruce Locke has developed technology that uses natural elements and plasma to deliver organic fertilizer to plants and mitigate the environmental impact of growing food. The FSU Research Foundation has signed a license agreement with Advanced Fertilizer Systems to develop and use this technology.

Psychology Professor Brad Schmidt developed a web-based application with tools for healthy living skills. The technology has been licensed to Yo-Fi Wellness, Inc.

Thrivant, located in Tallahassee, has licensed technology developed by Professor of Biomedical Sciences Branko Stefanovic that makes advancements in screening potential drugs to treat liver fibrosis.

FSU’s Office of Commercialization has six full-time employees and two part-timers who work with professors and researchers in moving ideas developed on campus into the hands of companies and investors with the idea of getting these products to the market.

“The majority are licensing managers involved in the commercialization of the technology,” Edington said. “They are involved in protecting the intellectual property through patents and copyrights.”

Edington said the university identifies commercial partners who are interested in certain technologies, which are owned by the university. The professors often get a percentage of royalties. In fiscal year 2015, licenses and agreements generated $579,000 and in fiscal year 2016, $577,000, according to the university officials.

FSU has yet to match the licensing agreement it was able to establish with chemistry professor Robert Holton’s creation Taxol, the synthetic drug licensed in the early 1990s for treatment of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Taxol, over a period of years, generated $350 million for Holton and FSU, the most ever generated through a licensing agreement in the United States and Canada, including the University of Florida’s Gatorade, Edington said.

“It’s a lucky event,” Edington said of the Taxol agreement, which has since expired.

It is unknown how much will be generated for licenses signed during the last fiscal period, as it takes time for companies to get a product out and market it.

Edington said he is pleased with the direction FSU is heading in obtaining agreements, but there is so much more potential in what is being developed on campus.

“We are going to do things better in the future,” he said. “We are going to be doing something this community can be proud of.”

Solar power device to be at new FSU science building

http://www.wctv.tv/content/news/New-solar-energy-device-plans-to-be-used-435245823.html



A new type of solar device has arrived in Tallahassee. A small crowd of city workers, scientists, and solar energy enthusiasts caught a live demonstration of the Smartflower Tuesday.
The Smartflower is a freestanding machine that fans out a series of solar panels and then tilts to follow the sun. Each panel is made of monocrystalline silicon, a material proven to be very productive in higher temperatures.
“We have a concentration of the most amount of energy that we can put in a 16 foot diameter,” said Al Simpler, CEO of Simpler Solar Systems.
Originally designed in Austria, the Smartflower is the first of its kind available in the United States.
“Europe is ahead of us when it comes to using solar energy,” said Simpler. “It’s about time we use clean energy that’s renewable. We have lots of it in abundance. It’s for the future of our children, probably more than it is for us.”
Local oceanographer and solar energy enthusiast John Winchester purchased one of the three available units. Winchester will use the solar panels as a public and private cooperation between Simpler Solar Systems and Florida State University.

“We should get used to living with our ecosystem and at least make use of solar energy like this,” said Winchester. “For education, it ought to be extremely useful.”
Winchester plans to donate the Smartflower to FSU. It will be located at the new Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences building that is currently under construction.

Jimbo Fisher best winning % for a coach in ACC history

ESPN Stats & Info‏Verified account @ESPNStatsInfo Jul 25

Jimbo Fisher has gone 78-17 in seven seasons at Florida State, the best winning percentage for a coach in ACC history.

Langford Green being updated

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2017/07/26/florida-states-langford-green-gets-makeover/511725001/

Langford Green on Florida State's campus has seen its use increase exponentially over the years.

Fans, vendors, and ESPN's College Gameday show have utilized the space outside of Doak Campbell Stadium during the Seminoles' football season.

FSU students use it for recreational purposes.

In 2015, country music star Brad Paisley held a free concert on Langford Green.

 

The grassy area, which welcomes visitors to the University Center Complex and Doak Campbell Stadium off Varsity Drive, wasn't designed for such heavy use however.

It also has been difficult to maintain due to poor drainage, cracking and loose pavers and sidewalks and outdated lighting. 

"The Green just gets a lot of use. It's needed to be refreshed," Jerry Kutz, vice president of Capital Campaigns & Projects for Seminole Boosters, Inc., told the Tallahassee Democrat. 

“(Langford Green) is the front lawn for the University Center and Doak Campbell Stadium but our university administration realizes it is also the front lawn and most visible entrance to the Florida State University campus.”

The area is receiving much-needed attention.

Langford Green currently is under construction to improve access to large trucks as well as being more functional for students. The project is being funded by the university.

It will also receive a makeover that includes a new irrigation system to help maintain a stronger, healthier lawn, new sidewalks and walkways and additional trees, tree grates and landscaping.

The amphitheater will be removed and replaced with a new plaza. WiFi also is being added to the coverage area. 

 

"They took the knowledge gained from the last 19 years, and they’ve put in driveways into there where you can back a truck up into it but you’re driving on a mat," Kutz said. 

"It’s not going to destroy the sprinklers underneath or impact the soil. It’s designed to be compacted. The type of soil that they’re putting in there will drain naturally better. They’re putting in some drainage that will help it.

"More trees and color (are being added) along the walkways on either side."

FSU also wanted to better recognize what the green was initially designed for and the person that it was named after.

George Langford has been described as the father of the Seminole Boosters during his two-terms as president of the organization in the 1960s. 

New signage will include a redesigned “DeVoe L. Moore University Center” sign, new “Langford Green” signage, and a new Langford Green plaque pedestal. 

"It’s the entrance to the DeVoe L. Moore University Center complex, and that was kind of lost in the way the way the signage was built," Kutz said.

"The Langford green and the story of George Langford needs to be recognized better on the Green and it will be on the patio."

Kutz said the new Langford Green will be built for the future, but it will also be a symbol of the past and the people who helped get FSU to where it is today.

It is an iconic area that people pass each day. 

“Thousands of cars travel past Langford Green every day from the airport to downtown Tallahassee, the state capital complex and the FSU and FAMU campuses, so it was important Langford Green reflected the architectural beauty of the main campus,” Kutz said. 

Study: Tallahassee ranked 10th for most educated city in America

http://www.wtxl.com/news/study-tallahassee-ranked-th-for-most-educated-city-in-america/article_7a9e5b3e-7242-11e7-9b58-139110b2baaa.html?utm_content=buffer8f2b2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 Tallahassee is the 10th most educated city in America, according to a new study.
The study, done by WalletHub, was done on the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across nine key metrics.

The study found that Tallahassee held its own in the top 10, beating out several large cities to include Seattle, Minneapolis, and Colorado Springs.
In fact, Tallahassee was the only Florida city to break into the top 10. You can see the full list of cities and their rankings at the bottom of this story.
Tallahassee fared even better when it came to gender education gaps, ranking 4th for the smallest gap.

Download PDF

To identify the most and least educated cities in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 150 most populated U.S. MSAs across two key dimensions, including “Educational Attainment” and “Quality of Education & Attainment Gap.”
They evaluated those categories using nine metrics to include quality of public school system, average quality of universities, gender and racial education gap.

Champions Club changes

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2017/07/30/changes-coming-florida-states-champions-club/522512001/

 

Club seat buyers were enjoying the amenities inside the facilities and not sitting in their seats during games – not the best look in a sold-out stadium.

Changes are being implemented for Year 2, according to Jerry Kutz, vice president of Capital Campaigns & Projects for Seminole Boosters, Inc. to encourage people to sit outside.

*Cooling Misters have been installed in the upper level that are designed to lower the ambient temperature in the area by 10 to 20 degrees without surface moisture or frizzing hair.

*A Club staff member will be in every section with a new point-of-sale system that will allow them to take orders while fans are in their seats and answer any food or drink related questions.

*There will also be food items available only in the seats, items like popcorn and ice cream, with vendors selling beer and wine in the aisles.



In the second year of a three-year sales plan, FSU has sold 60 percent of the 5,800-seat Club as season tickets, Kutz said.



The Club will also be bringing more local favorites in for food selections, including 4-Rivers Smokehouse Signature Product Line. 4-Rivers owner John Rivers is a Seminole Booster and FSU alumnus.



Kutz remains pleased with the direction of the Club, which, by design, generates needed revenue for the athletics department.

He is confident the Club will reach its three-year sales plan (90 percent of sold out) by 2018, which will feature home games against Virginia Tech, Clemson and Florida.

Phase 3 of College Town construction update

Old ESPN SEC playoff push, just because....

ACC/SEC stats

Hate conferencing comparing, IMHO, it is either 'are you truly a power conference or not.'  Often ESPN and SEC media (one in the same) is insane and is unable to see reality.  Some facts to show, it is RIDICULOUS media narrative only based on money (SEC is where the $$$ is).  Will the next 4 years be this good for the ACC?  Tough to say.  $$$ difference suggest it won't be, but regardless on field results show ACC does not get the respect it has earned.  Much of that is directly due to it's TV 'partner' (in name only) that actively works against the ACC, ignores ACC wins over the SEC, and celebrates SEC wins over the ACC........and at the same time, is a large part why the ACC has a major revenue gap against SEC/B1G.



http://allsportsdiscussion.com/2017/07/13/jimbo-fisher-fuels-acc-football-vs-sec-football-debate/


Last 4 years, ACC vs SEC:  23-20
Last 3 years, ACC vs SEC:  19-13
Last year, ACC vs SEC:  10-4

National Title last 4 years:

ACC 2
BIG 1
SEC 1

FSU returns $1 Million

http://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/14/florida-state-university-return-more-money-secret-1-million/479828001/


Florida State University will return more than expected from a $1 million grant lawmakers secretly tucked inside the university's budget for the friend of a state senator, according to a letter from FSU President John Thrasher.

Thrasher, in a letter Tuesday to state House Speaker Richard Corcoran, promised to return $310,000 from the $1 million that Florida Psychological Associates received in last year's $82.3 billion state budget. The firm, based in Fernandina Beach, received the money with the help of state Sen. Aaron Bean, who is a longtime friend of the owner and her husband, Nassau County Tax Collector John Drew. 

In April, Thrasher told Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes, he would return $200,000 the FSU College of Medicine accepted to cover administrative costs for the program. Corcoran replied that the school should return only the administrative money it did not spend. 

More: Firm that received $1M secret state payment details expenses

More: FSU returns some secret money, offers few expense details

More: Documents: Florida legislator helped friend with secret $1 million state payment

More: Florida legislators hide projects in university budgets

In response, Thrasher sent another letter to Corcoran stating he would return the $210,000 remaining after FSU canceled its contract with the firm. The $100,000 in unspent administrative money also would be returned to the state's treasury by the end of the month, Thrasher said. 

"Although we were willing to return all of the administrative funds, we appreciate your acknowledgement of FSU's work on this program," he wrote. "And we will return the unspent $100,000 of administrative funds according to your direction."

Language in this year's $83 billion state budget specifically forbids FSU from providing Florida Psychological Associates any additional money. The firm received the $1 million to conduct a mental health assessment program on 7,200 people in northeastern Florida. The program should have tested 3,800 people by February, but it had tested only 241. 

"We applaud the Legislature for your efforts to ensure all tax dollars are spent wisely and transparently and we are pleased to be part of the process," Thrasher wrote. 

The university had given the firm $590,191 of the $800,000 it stood to receive before Thrasher ended its contract in April. Corcoran sent the university and the firm a letter on April 10 demanding documents to detail how Florida Psychological Associates spent the money.

Corcoran's demands followed reports by the Naples Daily News that Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, helped the firm secure the money and emails that suggested Bean would help market the program in other states. 

Bean has denied any relationship with Florida Psychological Associates. 

The firm provided records to Corcoran's office documenting how it spent $420,699, but they did not account for the remaining $169,492. Among the expenses was the $82,141 salary Catherine Drew paid herself.

Budget Numbers comparison

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/a-detailed-look-at-the-financials-for-sec-football-programs.181588/

As Warchant first reported back in March, FSU athletics actually suffered a $1.8 million loss for the 2015-16 cycle due to several factors. According to FSU officials this was only an "on paper" loss that won't carry over to the next cycle.

The difference here is The Advocate's figures are based on "football" budgets, not overall athletics.We'll see if we can get a detailed breakdown of FSU football only financial figures for 2015-16 so we can compare.


I saw a post showing athletic revenues and expenditures. These things are always tricky, but according to that we were 18th nationally and would have been 11th in the SEC, just behind USCe.


http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/lsu/article_a30b6a30-68d8-11e7-ac09-573e82e64c5f.html

Q/A with Swofford

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article161431703.html

Q. How do you address the revenue gap with the rest of the Power 5 and are there implications for maintaining this level of success if you can’t get closer to the SEC and Big Ten on a conference or per-school basis? The network will obviously help with that, to a degree that we don’t yet know.

A. The channel will help with that significantly. We’re confident of that. ESPN is confident of that. In any significant changes in the world as we know it so to speak in terms of channels and generation of subscription dollars and so forth, if that were particularly negative, that’s not just going to affect us. It’s going to affect everybody else. That’s the route we needed to go for significant revenue generation that doesn’t exist now. There are very few opportunities to take that kind of step, very few avenues to take, and this was by far potentially the most rewarding path we could go down.

Q. Are there any other areas where you can show maybe not that kind of significant improvement, but areas you can target for improvement? Bowls?

A. Bowls, to some extent. We took some steps with our current arrangements and with the College Football Playoff. Maintaining as a league our place at the table, that was critical. That’s significant revenue and that may continue to jump the next time around. I suspect it will, but that remains to be seen. And then you have all of the institutional revenue sources from fund-raising to ticket sales. The revenues from a conference office in terms of type are fairly limited. This is where sometimes it’s a little hard to compare apples to apples. Some conferences are pulling in the institutional multimedia dollars and showing it as conference-generated revenue. We don’t do that. Our schools don’t want to do that. They feel like they’re better off not doing that. There’s no question right now, the SEC and Big Ten there’s a significant gap to the other three. I suspect we’re probably in a better position than sometimes is portrayed because of the accounting of it. We pay all our schools’ expenses for their teams at ACC championships. Sometimes I wonder why we do that, but that’s what we’ve done for years. And yet other conferences put that in their revenue share, they show that as revenue sent to the schools. The gap, right now, is the two.


Q. Do you think that has long-term competitive implications?

A. I think it does to some degree, if it stays that way. I don’t expect it to stay that way. At least in respect to our situation. As I said before, that’s the very reason we’re going on the path we’re going on, and we think it’ll be successful. In terms of a couple of years here, we’re exactly where we expected to be. And we made some decisions – by we, I’m talking about the schools – in terms of what to do with certain revenues. … There’s a difference (in fiscal year 2016) from the previous years because we took the Maryland settlement money and took it immediately instead of leveling it out. And the Orange Bowl money – we could have leveled that out, but the schools prefer the year we’re not in there to forgo it, and when we are in there, take it then. That was all by design. We knew heading into the launch of the channel that there would be some gap with the SEC having started its channel and the Big Ten channel now doing well, after it struggled early, is now doing very well. There are no surprises there.


Q. I mentioned bowls earlier, briefly. When does the process of negotiation new ties begin (the current agreements expire after the 2019 season) and do you foresee any major changes now that Notre Dame was fully integrated into this last round and you may be in a stronger position?

 

A. We haven’t gotten deeply into that right now but I think it’s fair to say that we’re really pleased with most of the partnerships. I think there will be some financial gain to be had when the time comes around. Obviously success on the field for some years is always helpful and I think will be helpful. Will there be dramatic changes? I don’t know. I really like the fact that we’re playing other Power 5 opponents in basically all of our bowls except one that we’re tied into. And the champion of the American in the other. So who we’re playing has improved dramatically. The situation in Orlando is really good for us, tying that in with an additional game when the Big Ten is in the Orange Bowl was a really good step for us. If we can continue to have the competitive success we’ve had over the past four or five years it would give us much more to work with in bowl negotiations.

 

 

 

Q. You were asked about Louisville on Thursday on a couple different occasions but from a more global perspective, obviously they’ve had competitive success in a number of sports since joining the conference, but the issues with the foundation, the basketball investigation, their involvement in Wakeyleaks – do you have any concerns about Louisville’s ability to be a good citizen in the ACC?

A. There have been some things that have happened there, and elsewhere, you know. The Wakeyleaks thing was two institutions and then a third to some degree. But no, I think Louisville has been and is and will be an excellent addition to our league. From my chair, you don’t ever want to see those kinds of issues anywhere, but they happen. Because individuals go down the wrong path periodically. But in terms of the athletics leadership at Louisville and the changes they’re making institutionally and have made in terms of the university’s foundation – it wasn’t the athletic foundation – that’s all been addressed and addressed very emphatically so I think Louisville will be a long-term good and prominent member of the league. You look back over our league’s history we’ve had a number of schools at one time or another that have had problems or issues that are outstanding institutions that have made tremendous contributions to the league. But you’d like not to have any of those issues.


Q. The last 20 years, your time as a collegiate commissioner, have seen tremendous change, and it’s really accelerated in recent years. You haven’t put an end point on your tenure at this time, but after you, at some point in the future, do you have a sense of where things are headed for the ACC and college athletics in general?

A. I know where I hope it’s headed. I hope it’s heading toward a period of recommitment and stabilization, in an ever-changing world of technology and a very fast-moving world, to a recommitment to the collegiate model where there’s the balance of athletics and academics together. I’m still a big believer and will be a big believer that the model can work. I know there are those who will disagree with me but the vast majority of the time, it does work. It is something unique to this country and no other country in the world has it. I think we need to modernize it, in the sense of a changing world, specific to the plight of our athletes. But I think it’s something special to the culture of this country, and it’s something special that gives enormous opportunities to young people, many of whom that wouldn’t otherwise have it. I think we have to be careful not to make every decision based on the elite athlete that has pro potential, but I think we need to recognize that there are those athletes and that’s their path forward in their future life. And that’s a path that only fairly recently became as financially giving as it is now. How do we take that all into account and have the flexibility to modernize it so that the basics of it continue to work for years to come? I think there will continue to be a look at the size of the NCAA, the national organization and what role it continues to have. Whether the gaps in conferences and institutions that play at different levels, whether it makes sense to keep all of them together under one umbrella or not. At this particular time, I still think it does make sense to do that and what we’ve tried to do is find the appropriate subgroups to keep it under one umbrella to try and benefit everybody. Twenty years from now if that’s still possible, I don’t know. I’m not that much of a visionary in that sense.

 

 

 

Q. In a more micro sense for the ACC, as 2023 comes up (when TV deals for the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 start to expire) and we have the specter of possible changes in alignment, obviously your membership has been secured well beyond that, but do you have any fears of what that might look like over the next six years as there could be some movement? Especially at a time when college conferences have gone from small groups of like-minded schools to larger marketing partnerships.

A. My guess is whatever comes at that point in time, and far be it from me to predict that, I don’t see it affecting the ACC very much. If Notre Dame wanted to take a step to come in football, I think the conference would readily have that conversation. Then you’re maybe looking at a 16th school to have balanced football divisions. Beyond that, my guess is that this league will, in 2035-36, look a lot like it does today in terms of its membership. Elsewhere? I think we’ll just have to wait and see. I never thought our league would be 15 (teams). Seriously. There was a time when I started seeing that there was benefit to that, and not only benefit but necessity. But when I took the job 20 years ago I didn’t see that. I thought maybe 12. And then things happen and things change in the landscape and the marketplace and what you need to do in order to keep the conference at the most prominent level. So those things change. If there becomes this sense of having 20-member conferences-slash-associations, and there are fewer of them, long term I guess that could come into play. In terms of our own membership, and in the period of time you asked me about, that would be my answer in terms of us.

FSU support staff salaries (Updated with SEC comparison)

http://floridastate.247sports.com/Article/Salaries-for-Florida-State-Seminoles-football-quality-control-as-59861825

FSU is committed to paying more than $237,000 on Quality Control assistants, although that figure can change if agreements are updated in the new fiscal year. Quality Control assistants are Other Personal Services (OPS) employees, which is a designation in the state of Florida for "temporary employer/employee relationship used solely for accomplishing short term or intermittent tasks."
Bert Biffani
Salary: $30,000 ($14.36 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2016)

Dameyune Craig
Salary: $16,848 ($8.10 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2016)

Jerry Johnson
Salary: $41,000 ($19.63 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2015, amended in 2016)

Addison Lynch
Salary: $30,000 ($14.36 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2015)

Matt McCutchan
Salary: $25,000 ($15.96 hourly...30 hours per week) (OPS form provided from 2014)

David Spurlock
Salary: $24,960 ($12.00 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2014)

Tino Sunseri
Salary: $30,000 ($14.36 hourly) (OPS form provided from 2016)

Mike Warren
Salary: $40,000 (OPS form provided from 2013)


http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/lsu/article_d1bff0de-6992-11e7-991c-a3dc0d6e75d6.html

FSU helmet history (1962)

Bob Perrone‏ @BobPerrone1 2h2 hours ago
Replying to @Singleshot25 @JimMWeber

In 1962, FSU had three helmets.pic.twitter.com/lpjMRCwoWJ

5 reasons why the ACC....

Hopefully this is not correct, the ACC has made a huge jump IMHO, I don't want it to go back.  IMHO, revenue gap is THE #1 reason why it might.


http://allsportsdiscussion.com/2017/07/15/5-reasons-why-the-accs-rise-to-the-top-college-football-will-be-short-lived/

The ACC spent a lot of time pounding their chest at their recent football media days. When an Alabama newspaper makes these statements about the ACC Football : 

Here’s a fun fact if you’re an ACC fan: Ten of the 14 SEC programs have lost their last game against an ACC opponent…

Old-fashioned Southern conference bragging rights will be on the line, but with a twist. The ACC owns them. The SEC’s desperately trying to win them back.

Then you know times are good for the ACC, but I’m going to give you 5 reasons why it’s not going last. What has happened here on our humble ACC blog? Have we gone anti-ACC? Nope, just pumping the breaks looking at both sides, but after this article I’ll tell you in our next piece why the ACC is going to stay at or near the top.

The SEC won’t stay down

No two conferences are more intertwined that ACC and SEC. The conferences share 4 states, many teams have long histories with each other, and the conferences on average play each other 7-8 times a year. Last year they faced off 14 times. From 2006-2012 the SEC won 7 straight national titles by 4 different teams. It was the dominant football conference, but there is no question the SEC has declined in recent years. This was due to poor coaching hires, and a drop in QB performance. The SEC recruits to well to stay down for long. They eat and breath football. Their fans will demand improvement, and that’s bad thing for the ACC.

It’s a two team league (Clemson and FSU)

Critics of the ACC still look at the conference as a two team league (Clemson and FSU). What if both fall off? Who will step in their place? So far in the last 4 years only Georgia Tech in 2014 has finished the year in the top 10. Until someone does it then it hasn’t happened, and we’re still waiting for another team to make a run at the playoffs.

2016 bowl season was fluke

Prior to the 9-3 2016 bowl season, the ACC was 13-19 in bowl the 3 previous seasons. If we’re using bowl records to help conference strength, then what happened in 2013, 2014 and 2015? That wasn’t long ago.

That big ole revenue gap

The ACC Network is coming, I personally think it will be a success, but at some point, football given the financial gap with the Big 10 and SEC is going to start mattering when it comes to retaining coaches and keeping up with facilities. The ACC’s recent run has been at a financial disadvantage. That’s not sustainable.

Fighting History – reverting back to the mean.

Go back to the 1950s the ACC has never had a winning decade against the SEC,  and has losing historical records against the Pac 12, Big 12, and Big 10. The ACC has been trying since 1953 to have sustained football success. Every time the ACC had a short break out football-wise, they quickly fell back. The late 1990s and early 2000s, had Georgia Tech winning 3 in a row against Georgia, FSU playing an elite level, and UNC was very good. The ACC fell back. In the early 90s, the ACC won 2 national titles in 4 years (1990 – Georgia Tech, 1993 – FSU) and it fell back. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Everything the ACC is attempting to do is uncharted territory.

 

FSU Depth Chart

FSU Factoids of the Day

Tim Bourret‏ @TimBourret Jun 18

Most non-conf. wins vs. SEC teams since 2008: Dabo Swinney 11, Jimbo Fisher 9, Paul Johnson 8, B. Petrino 4, Bob Stoops 4, Charlie Strong 4.

Corey Clark/TDO.com‏Verified account @Corey_Clark 3m3 minutes ago

I've tweeted this out before, but it's still an incredible stat. Top 5 finishes in 1990s: Florida State 10. The entire SEC 11.

 

 

Bama is built like an ACC team....

Bama will be a tough game for FSU.

Annual Reports

2016 Annual Report - FSU Foundation - Florida State University


2015-16 Annual Financial Reports


2016 annual report - Florida State University College of Medicine 


Not surprising no summary annual report in research (see subsections below)

https://www.research.fsu.edu/publications-reports/research-report-card/

Best
https://www.research.fsu.edu/publications-reports/annual-research-statistics/


https://www.research.fsu.edu/publications-reports/research-report-card/five-year-award-comparisons-data/

FSU scientists ink deals to send technologies to marketplace

https://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2017/07/11/fsu-scientists-ink-deals-send-technologies-marketplace/

Zika drugs to stop microcephaly. A tool to help teachers sort through troves of testing data to see who is struggling and where. Plasma technology that could help organic farmers better care for their crops.

Those are just a few of the new Florida State University-driven technologies that are being licensed to companies that will take them from the laboratory to the global marketplace.

Florida State University signed several licenses in the past fiscal year. Additionally, during the 2016 calendar year, the university patented 48 technologies, making it one of the top producers of patents in the country. A report by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association ranked FSU 49^th for patent production.

“FSU researchers are developing new technologies every day that not only help make the world a better place, but also represent significant business opportunities,” said Brent Edington, director of the Florida State University Office of Commercialization. “These new technologies have been licensed to companies that will expose FSU innovation and research to a broader audience.”

Here are a few highlights of the licenses signed this past fiscal year.

• Zika drugs and diagnostic tools: Potential drugs to combat the Zika virus have been developed by FSU scientists and licensed to Spotlight Innovation, a pharmaceutical company advancing technologies to combat rare or emerging diseases. Professor of Biological Science Hengli Tang’s laboratory is working with researchers at the NIH and Johns Hopkins University to identify a panel of potential drug compounds that could be used to treat the disease. Tang has also developed monoclonal antibodies to Zika virus proteins, which can be used to identify the Zika virus. Rights to these monoclonal antibodies have been licensed to a local company, BioFront Technologies.
  
• Plasma systems for organic farming: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Bruce Locke developed technology that uses natural elements and plasma to deliver organic fertilizer to plants and mitigate the environmental impact of growing food. The FSU Research Foundation has signed a license agreement with Advanced Fertilizer Systems to develop and use this technology.
• Health indicators for corporate wellness: Psychology Professor Brad Schmidt developed a web-based application that provides tools that help promote healthy living skills. It provides tips related to diet and exercise, sleep hygiene, water consumption and other health-related issues. The technology has been licensed to Yo-Fi Wellness, Inc., which already provides tools for corporate wellness. Yo-Fi Wellness plans to incorporate this into their existing materials for a broader health-related application called Healthy U.
• Better testing materials: Yaacov Petscher, director of research for the Florida Center for Reading Research at FSU, has developed a new app that provides more in-depth analytics to help teachers predict who is struggling and how to help these students make up lost ground. Current tests only show present-day ability, while Petscher’s diagnostic tool uses the scores from those tests to predict potential hurdles for students in the future. The technology has been licensed to the University of Oregon’s Center on Teaching and Learning and the RMC Research Corporation, which distributes testing and educational materials in classrooms nationwide.
• An education toolkit for marine biology: Lost Key Media, the publisher of Guy Harvey magazine, has partnered with CPALMS, an online education curriculum platform to provide fish and marine science content created by Guy Harvey. CPALMS was developed by researcher Rabieh Razzouk at the Learning Systems Institute. It is endorsed by the Florida Department of Education and reaches 60,000 unique visitors daily.
• Screening procedure to identify drugs to inhibit fibrosis: Thrivant, a Tallahassee-based company, has licensed technology that makes significant advancements in screening potential drugs to treat liver fibrosis. Professor of Biomedical Sciences Branko Stefanovic has been working on fibrosis research for several years and developed this tool while also investigating treatment for the disease. Liver fibrosis is often a precursor to cirrhosis, the final state of liver disease where the liver is barely functioning.

State of Florida Champs last 4 seasons

Last 5 year recruiting ranking

https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/rivals-top-50-recruiting-teams-of-the-past-five-years

1. Bama
2. OSU

3. FLORIDA STATE

Recruiting rankings

2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	Average
5	2	3	4	10	4.8

Surprisingly, Florida State is the only ACC program in the top 10. Coming in at third, the Seminoles have long been considered one of the elite recruiting programs in the country, and have obviously continued that trend over the last five years. Only a No. 10 finish in 2013 kept FSU from possibly leapfrogging Ohio State into second place.
Judge Farrell: ACHIEVED. A national title in 2013 and a playoff appearance mean the ‘Noles are playing up to their recruiting level and Jimbo Fisher is one of the top recruiters in the game.

4. LSU
5. UGA
6. USC
7. Auburn
8. Notre Dame
9. Texas A&M
10. UF

11. CLEMSON

Ranks last five years: 22, 6, 4, 13, 14 -- 11.8 average

Judge Farrell: OVERACHIEVED. For a team outside the top 10 to appear in the national title game and win it the next year, you can only say that Clemson achieved more than expected, although this is a close call. You could easily say ACHIEVED here as well.

15. MIAMI

Ranks last 5 years: 11, 21, 26, 12, 19 -- 17.8

Judge Farrell: UNDERACHIEVED. A 32-20 record isn’t horrible, but it isn’t great either for being 15th here. Zero ACC divisional titles for the Canes in the last four seasons isn’t good either.

28. VIRGINIA TECH

Ranks last 5 years: 28, 42, 24, 26, 23 -- 28.6

Judge Farrell: ACHIEVED. A division title under Justin Fuente pushed the Hokies to a 32-21 record in four seasons at No. 28 on this list.

T29. NORTH CAROLINA

Ranks last 5 years: 30, 24, 29, 24, 39 -- 29.2

Judge Farrell: ACHIEVED. The bar gets lower down here on the list and a division title and a 32-21 record, just like the Hokies, is good enough at UNC.

32. LOUISVILLE

Ranks last 5 years: 29, 36, 32, 36, 41 -- 34.8

Judge Farrell: OVERACHIEVED. One year in the AAC helps, but a 38-14 record is very good for a Louisville team just outside the top 30 here.

42. NC STATE

Ranks last 5 years: 53, 44, 36, 30, 46 -- 41.8

Judge Farrell: UNDERACHIEVED. With a losing record over four seasons you’d think NC State would do a smidge better being on the fringe of the top 40.

44. PITTSBURGH

Ranks last 5 years: 37, 31, 70, 45, 35

Judge Farrell: ACHIEVED. Three winning seasons out of four and an overall record of 29-23 is solid enough for Pitt.

48. VIRGINIA

Ranks last 5 years: 56, 61, 46, 42, 28 -- 46.6

Judge Farrell: UNDERACHIEVED. Recruiting hasn’t been good but the on the field play has been worse at Virginia.

50. DUKE

Ranks last 5 years: 46, 33, 63, 59, 69 -- 54.0

Judge Farrell: ACHIEVED. This past season was bad, but 27-13 the three seasons before that puts Duke just under OVERACHIEVED.

ESPN all in on SEC

Tomahawk Nation‏ @Tomahawknation 1h1 hour ago

Remember when the SEC Network wasn't going to bleed over into ESPN?

 

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2017/07/espn2-exclusively-televise-new-standalone-hour-paul-finebaum-show-beginning-august-16/

 

ESPN2 to Exclusively Televise New Standalone Hour of The Paul Finebaum Show Beginning Aug. 16

Florida State University has renewed its licensing arrangement with IMG College Licensing

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/fsu-mcnews-with-img.181301/#post-2987926

Got a better explanation of the situation.

As I mentioned in the last reply, this has nothing to do with FSU's marketing rights contact with IMG. IMG took over Collegiate Licensing and the story linked relates to that arrangement with the Seminole Boosters.

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/07/10/Colleges/FSU-Virginia.aspx

FSU, Virginia strike licensing deals

By Michael Smith, Staff Writer

Published July 10, 2017, Page 6

Longtime client Florida State University has renewed its licensing arrangement with IMG College Licensing, while Virginia has signed a new licensing deal with Fermata Partners. The Seminoles have been with IMG since 1982, when the business was known as Collegiate Licensing Co., making F...

FSU #1 in College Sports according to CBS Sports

CBS Sports CFB‏Verified account @CBSSportsCFB 2h2 hours ago

Best in College Sports: Florida State (@Seminoles) edges rival Florida for tight win in 2016-17 http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/best-in-college-sports-florida-state-edges-rival-florida-for-tight-win-in-2016-17/ …pic.twitter.com/2hGOTpokxv

FSU athletics operated at nearly a nearly $2 million deficit for the 2016 fiscal year

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2017/07/06/fsu-athletics-operated-deficit-2016-fiscal-year/455520001/



http://www.fsunews.com/story/sports/college/fsu/2017/07/06/fsu-athletics-operated-deficit-2016-fiscal-year/455520001/

Florida State was once again one of the top athletic departments in the country in revenue during the 2016 fiscal year.
However, the Seminoles also operated at one of the highest operating expenses according to reports gathered by the USA TODAY data team.

FSU was 18th in the country in revenue ($113.7 million) and 17th in expenses ($115.6 million), which left the department at a $1.9 million deficit for the year.
The total revenue for the 2016 year was down $7.1 million from the 2015 year ($120.8 million). This was mainly due to a steep drop-off in ticket sales. FSU sold $26.2 million worth of tickets for the 2015 year, but just $20.2 million in 2016.
The total expenses for the 2016 year was up $4.2 million from 2015 ( $111.4 million). The majority of that difference came from coaching salaries. FSU spent $23.8 million on coaches in 2016, which was up $3.9 million from the 2015 year ($19.9 million).

FSU's total operating revenue and total operating expenses were both the highest of any athletic department in the ACC. The only other departments in the Top-25 of either category were Louisville and Clemson.
Louisville operated at a $2.75 million profit, while Clemson operated at $1.76 million profit.
Florida operated at a $20.1 million profit for the year with a total revenue of $141.4 million and a total expense of $121.3 million. The Gators total revenue was the eighth highest in the country, while their expenses were 13th.
The biggest difference between FSU and UF came from the media rights revenue. UF received the third highest media revenue at $39.1 milion. FSU came in at No. 21 with $22.5 million.
The Seminoles were the only athletic department in the ACC to finish in the Top-25 of the media rights revenue. North Carolina at 28 ($20.8 million) came the closest.

Among the other state schools, Florida Atlantic ($3 million) and Florida International ($1.6 million) operated at a profit. Central Florida broke even, and South Florida operated at a $1.2 million deficit for the year. Florida A&M operated at a $485,973 deficit for the year.


Miami, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Duke did not report.

ACC	Total Revenue	Total Expenses	Profit
Florida State	$113,754,314	$115,631,800	-$1,877,486
Louisville	$112,146,504	$109,393,330	$2,753,174
Clemson	$104,823,057	$103,059,980	$1,763,077
Virginia	$103,272,319	$99,801,739	3,470,580
North Carolina	$95,175,985	$95,175,985	$0
Virginia Tech	$83,702,698	$84,617,028	-$914,330
N.C. State	$80,225,029	$79,905,724	$319,305
Georgia Tech	$76,409,293	$76,301,805	$107,488
State of Florida	Total Revenue	Total Expenses	Profit
Florida	$141,441,109	$121,307,116	$20,133,933
Florida State	$113,754,314	$115,631,800	-$1,877,486
Central Florida	$59,379,453	$59,379,453	$0
South Florida	$47,160,819	$48,405,191	-$1,244,372
Florida Atlantic	$32,141,210	$29,182,295	$2,958,915
Florida International	$29,370,443	$27,760,735	$1,609,708
FAMU	$12,016,501	$12,502,474	-$485,973
ACC	Coaching Expenses	Media Rights	Ticket Sales
Florida State	$23,824,010	$22,457,404	$20,206,022
Louisville	$23,307,089	$13,558,108	$29,054,868
Virginia	$20,112,176	$15,964,801	$14,612,987
Virginia Tech	$18,152,365	$20,524,892	$18,053,062
Clemson	$17,691,803	$15,964,803	$23,537,134
N.C. State	$16,315,316	$20,719,802	$19,017,232
North Carolina	$15,963,077	$20,837,021	$23,332,957
Georgia Tech	$12,659,117	$10,076,668	$13,101,709
State of Florida	Coaching Expenses	Media Rights	Ticket Sales
Florida State	$23,824,010	$22,457,404	$20,206,022
Florida	$18,564,322	$39,083,877	$27,713,183
Central Florida	$9,321,286	0	$3,934,495
South Florida	$8,453,478	$497,876	$3,036,967
Florida Atlantic	$4,537,437	$1,158,585	$1,615,037
Florida International	$4,403,173	$1,058,585	$678,453
FAMU	$2,342,851	$0	$670,497

FSU and the Draft

Blue Chip Percentages and recruiting rankings....

http://floridastate.247sports.com/Board/36/Contents/Israel-Mukuamu-discusses-his-Top-4-53429431

pabaseball

If you look back at FSU's relative peaks and valleys, a lot of it can be traced to FSU's one "bad" class under Fisher in 2013.
Recruiting class year / Class rank / F/+ rank (year 3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 / 7 / 12 (Orange Bowl win)
2011 / 2 / 1 (National Champion)
2012 / 3 / 15 (college football playoffs semifinal loss)
2013 / 11 / 12 (Peach Bowl loss)
2014 / 4 / 9 (Orange Bowl win)
2015 / 3 / TBD
2016 / 2 / TBD
2017 / 6 / TBD
You can see FSU's worst stretch was in the two non-freshman/non-senior seasons of the Noles' worst class. 2014 had a high-ranking, but it was based a LOT on size (29 signees, with an average just *barely* over 90).
Now we're headed back into a year similar to what 2013 was, with two classes in their "primes" who were in the top 3 in the country.
I don't fault Jimbo for this, but the reality is, programs that win titles get boosts, and FSU hasn't won the most recent ones, meaning teams like Clemson and Ohio State are in the midst of up-cycles. Of course, we outrecruited them for the years that are *currently* in their primes, so we better grab some momentum back now. At least so far, winning with this level of talent looks like our most likely route to grabbing a Natty and therefore reaping the recruiting rewards one and two cycles down the line from now.......which will allow us to "rinse and repeat" with this process.
If we don't.......well, the program won't fall apart. But there isn't an obvious way for FSU to jump back into the upper, upper echelon of recruiters without getting fairly lucky on a mildly lower-ranked class or two.
And finally......there aren't any individual recruits I don't like us signing that Jimbo's gone after. But let's not also become ostriches to the situation and become like Miami fans, hailing every 3-star recruit as "underrated." When you can grab nothing BUT 4-stars and choose a select handful of 3-stars, it's believable to me that our coaches actually like every single one of those guys as if they were 4-stars or better. But, when it starts half your recruits -- and when we *know* we're missing out on a bunch of 4-star guys our coaches clearly preferred......then we need to be honest that this class is less than the "elite of the elite."
Just by percentages, comparing the years:
2011: (16 4/5-stars, 13 3-and-below stars) -- 57% blue chip
2012: (14 4/5-stars, 5 3-and-below stars) -- 74%
2013: (10 4/5-stars, 12 3-and-below stars) -- 45%
2014: (16 4/5-stars, 13 3-and-below stars) -- 57%
2015: (14 4/5-stars, 6 3-and-below stars) -- 70%
2016: (18 4/5-stars, 7 3-and-below stars) -- 72%
2017: (12 4/5-stars, 12 3-and-below stars) -- 50%
2018: (7 4/5-stars, 5 3-and-below stars) -- 58%
Maybe FSU's percentage will shoot back up with its traditional strong finishes. I'm positive Jimbo *will* catch a few really big fish (less sure he'll boost the BC% significantly). But i think it's clear we need another winning cycle on the field sooner rather than later to avoid having to hit on a bunch of projects and long(er)-shots down the line.

ACC can do better than ESPN

http://gusgustheguru.com/acc-you-can-do-better-than-espn/

The ACC was one of the five conferences that came away almost unscathed the past 15 years from conference realignment. They gained memberships from 6 football programs since 2004 and only lost one member in 2013 (Maryland). It is definitely safe to say commissioner John Swofford went the proactive route, and beat the Big East for survival. In 2013 when Maryland departed for the Big Ten, commissioner John Swofford put all of his cards into ESPN to show strength in stability. To show any other conference members that departure was no longer an option, that the ACC now owned all of your media rights and that stability was the key. This killed any rumors of members such as Clemson and FSU leaving for the Big 12. Putting the conferences hopes into ESPN worked shot term, but it seems like long term it can fall behind financially from other P5 conferences. Truth be told the ACC can do better than ESPN in the future, bring in NBC!

Notice: This is a hypothetical scenario, to where if I was the ACC commissioner I would be turning over every rock to ensure my schools do not fall even further behind financially. If I saw better alternative to ESPN, I would try my best to depart from the 20 year deal.

Fun Fact: The Florida State Seminoles have defeated their arch rivals the Florida Gators six of the past seven games.

The fact above looks superb in the short sight of things, but as we know in a rivalry the tide can shift in an instance. The right situation starts brewing, low in behold you are losing the recruiting battle to your rival, which leads to losing on the field to your rival. In college football money creates the wow factor (facilities, amenities, opportunities, etc), and if you are behind financially you are behind the wow factor. If you are behind the wow factor you are behind in recruiting. Knowledgeable Seminole fans realize that they are tens of millions behind their arch rival in the payout range each fiscal year. 
2016 Fiscal Year Payouts
Florida Gators: >40 Million
FSU Seminoles: 27.6 Million
The Florida State Seminoles will always be okay on the gridiron, they have spent every post season in a bowl game since 1980. But, one cannot help to wonder if the surplus of 12 million more in finances will help put the Gators on top in the long term. This has to be bothersome to the knowledgeable Seminole fan. A huge payout for the Florida Gators has definitely helped them build a well rounded athletics programs, winning a national championship in all three major sports now.

Fun Fact: There is no ACC Network on cable/dish packages yet.

This past season the tech savvy ACC fans could watch every sporting event televised on the ACC Digital network. The older folks will have to wait until 2019 to find availability to their ACC Network. It is no secret that ESPN is losing subscribers left and right from the cord cutting trend, and lets face it they do a terrible job at sports now a days. With ESPN losing gigantic chunks of money each year, the ACC network is definitely on the back burner. All of the college football focus seems to be going towards the cash cow SEC Network. The dominant success for the SEC is terrible for majority ACC programs but especially Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and Georgia Tech.
With ESPN having bigger troubles than worrying about a future conference network it brings many questions. The main one is, will they put the adequate resources needed for a successful ACC Network?

Fun Opinion: NBC/NBC Sports could have a cash cow with ACC football

NBC’s parent company is Comcast and they have coverage in many ACC states such as Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Currently until 2025 NBC benefits from a exclusive contract with Notre Dame. In my opinion there is a ton of money to be made in college football, and NBC needs to get back into the game. The college football world is begging for a competitor to come and compete with ESPN, to give an alternative. NBC Sports take a nose dive each Saturday during the college football season, and lose out on potential money. A NBC/ACC deal would be beneficial to everyone. Think of these match ups that could be produced by NBC and out of conference match-ups every other year.

Gem Match-ups each season
FSU vs. Clemson
FSU vs. Louisville
FSU vs. Miami
Clemson vs. Louisville
Clemson vs. Georgia Tech
Miami vs. Notre Dame (make it happen each year!)
Miami vs. Pittsburgh
Miami vs. Virginia Tech
North Carolina vs. Duke
North Carolina vs. North Carolina State
Pittsburgh vs. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech vs. Virginia
Every other season
FSU vs. Florida
Clemson vs. South Carolina
Louisville vs. Kentucky
Georgia Tech vs. Georgia
Pittsburgh vs. Penn State
(Insert unique out of conference games like FSU vs. Alabama)

These match ups and having the ACC to support the network will come in place nicely for when Notre Dame has a 4-8 season like they did in 2016. The insurgence of ACC football the past couple of seasons, competing nicely on the field with the SEC, would not be hard to market at all. The casual college football fan knows all fourteen programs in the ACC, and many know they have historical programs.

NBC currently pays Notre Dame 15 million each year from their TV contract. With ESPN, once it is split fourteen ways, and partially to Notre Dame majority of the ACC schools make less from TV money. This past year the ACC saw its TV revenue reach a total of 226 million. Once that is split fourteen ways, and a portion given to Notre Dame, each ACC program would be worth 12-13 million of TV revenue from ESPN.

If NBC were to invest/market wisely with the ACC they could definitely compete prime time with ABC on Saturday nights. This past season three full time ACC members and Notre Dame took part in the most viewed college football games this season. FSU/Clemson seems to be one of the biggest featured conference game in the next ten years. Put that game against almost any mid season game, and it has a good chance to come out on top.

Fun Opinion: Certain programs within the ACC do not deserve anywhere near the equal amount of revenue as premier conference members

Universities such as Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, and Boston College will always have bigger priorities than their football programs. Which is fine, but why would Wake Forest need the same revenue than Florida State? The Demon Deacons have only been to eleven bowl games in their long history, and is one of the smallest Universities in Division One football. They do not have the same room of growth as other premier programs.

If NBC took a chance on the ACC, I for one hope it would come with unequal pay. Reward the programs that have been performing well consistently, that draw views, and put the money where it is needed. (Before we all whine about the academics side of things, let us remember that five ACC institutions are apart of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which receive large grants for academic research. Academics will always be fine.)

Bottom line even if unequal pay was given out, but still “fair” everything would still be okay. Schools like Wake Forest and Boston College have no where to run to anyways.

NBC/ACC Hypothetical Payout ranges
(tiers can be switched if a program proves worthy)

Tier One 16-18 million each
Notre Dame
Florida State
Clemson

Tier Two 13-15 million
Georgia Tech
Louisville
North Carolina
Miami
Virginia Tech
Pittsburgh
North Carolina State

Tier Three 10-12 Million
Duke
Wake Forest
Boston College
Syracuse
Virginia

Even if each program was paid to its highest tier payout, NBC would be paying less than what ESPN is paying for the ACC. The key difference is that this would allow the ACC to protect its gems, and let programs earn their way to more money.





________________________________________________________________

An NBC/ACC partnership could be a whole new independence from ESPN. It could bring into a new golden age of sports and media relations. There is a lot of money to be made for any company willing to compete against ESPN and do it the right way.