FSU athletics dealing with more financial issues

FSU staked it's future on ESPN (which regularly tears it down) and the ACC Network (which is 5 years too late to the market).

Overall attendance at Doak has taken a hit as well. FSU’s average home attendance in 2014 was 82,211; it has not eclipsed 76,800 since, and it was only 70,943 in 2017.

FSU faces financial crunch, but Coburn sees light at end of tunnel:https://t.co/mwCkga9x25 pic.twitter.com/ghKS0rE93n

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) February 18, 2019

https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/fsu-faces-financial-crunch-but-coburn-sees-light-at-end-of-tunnel

What Coburn realized soon after stepping in was that the Seminoles’ financial picture was a little more daunting than he expected.

During his hour-long interview with Warchant and the Democrat, Coburn explained that FSU’s athletics budget is getting hit hard from both sides -- revenues and expenses. The result for the 2017-18 fiscal year was a $3.6 million deficit, and a similar shortfall is expected for 2018-19, despite several cost-cutting measures Coburn put into place during the fall.

And if a series of revenue-generating ideas are not successful in the coming year, the athletics department could have an even tougher time making ends meet in 2019-20.

The Seminoles also are paying off the new HD scoreboards and ribbon boards that were installed in Doak Campbell Stadium before the 2016 and ‘17 seasons. FSU also has had to invest about $4.5 million in infrastructure and technology to prepare for the new ACC linear television network, which is set to launch later this year.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/2019/02/17/fsu-athletic-director-david-coburn-focuses-deficit-ticket-renewals/2868766002/

Six months into the job, the former chief of staff anticipates additional cutbacks as he searches for new revenue streams to help balance an athletics budget that again faces serious annual financial challenges.

Coburn has been proactive with his strategy as FSU works to overcome an operating deficit that hovered at $3.6 million last year and is projected to be similar this year. 

While Coburn has expressed concerns about the department’s operating budget over the next couple of years, he notes that fundraising for capital facility gifts and scholarships is progressing very well. Seminole Boosters Inc., the independent fundraising arm of athletics, launched a five-year $100 million campaign for athletics in September and already has raised more than $60 million towards a variety of men’s and women’s sports projects.

Coburn continues to describe his future as interim athletics director as open-ended. Last August he replaced Stan Wilcox, who accepted a job with the NCAA. After evaluating the department’s finances, Coburn implemented a 4 percent reduction in what he described as “non-operating costs” within the athletics department. That reduction, Coburn said, is roughly $600,000 from FSU’s $106 million athletics budget. He noted in December that no cuts were made to the football recruiting budget.

Big-time college athletic programs such as FSU are making more money - and spending more money - than ever before. Coburn views FSU's budget as a three-year challenge, dating back to 2017-18.

He said that year ended in a $3.6 million deficit. He expects this year's deficit to be similar, citing the continued slide in season ticket football sales and booster contributions, in addition to expenses such as coaching contract transition costs, the infrastructure for the ACC Network that launches in August and the scoreboard costs in Doak Campbell Stadium.

Coburn hinted the 2019-20 deficit could be deeper, again largely depending on season football ticket renewals.