FSU student on Jeopardy

She's on a roll! 👏 @floridastate's Laurel Lathrop, an @FSUGS @fsu_englishdept graduate student, returns to @Jeopardy tonight to defend her title. pic.twitter.com/rlExGtvE9w

— FSU Arts & Sciences (@FSUartssciences) October 1, 2019

ACC update projections

Fun projection but these projections have regularly been almost double what actual athletic depts have been projecting.

Updated ACCN Revenue Projection based on recent carrier additions (and the $1/sub rumor): now estimating over $8M per school this fiscal year, $10M starting next year (ACC fiscal year begins July 1st). Wow!https://t.co/XMvb3JyOvU pic.twitter.com/UUNIf4y2oC

— Hokie Mark (@mark_hokie) October 1, 2019

ACC GOR & FSU note

FSU, that resides in an state that by law can't hide legal documents for public institutions ("sunshine laws") has long hid the ACC's GOR.  It was actually signed by FSU in a way that doesn't not meet that law, according to some.

Just a side note to that whole issue below.


https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/my-current-attempts-to-obtain-a-copy-of-the-gor.27558/

We too often discuss the GoR without having any idea what it actually says. I don't know if FSU has tried to hide it by not actually getting a copy, but it's worth a try to obtain it. I figured some here would be interested so I will continue to post the correspondence in this post with edits and dates of edits for reference. If someone thinks it's worth pinning, that's fine. If not, that's fine. I posted this in the TCCL, too because I knew we could keep a civil discourse, but let's try to keep this one civil, too, even with those posters with whom we disagree on this issue.

I sent this today, 7/21/15:

Hello, I am not a member of the press, so you may not be the right person to whom this should be directed. Please confirm by reply email if you are. If you are not, please let me know and let me know who is. I am copying Carolyn Egan to ensure the General Counsel's office has notice of this request.

This request is being made pursuant to Section 119.07 and all related statutes, constitutional provisions and/or administrative rules.

I would like to obtain a copy of the contract or agreement ("the Agreement") signed or otherwise agreed to by Florida State University ("FSU") or its agents and the Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") and/or its individual member institutions in 2013, as well as any amendments to that document. If it helps in identifying this document, it has at times been referenced as the Grant of Rights Agreement and you can see this news link discussing the agreement - http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...r/22116192/acc-approving-grant-of-rights-deal. Please note I am identifying the document based on its purpose and effect. I am not suggesting it is titled as I describe it and my failure to identify it by title when I do not have a copy should not cause any delay in complying with this request. If you have any doubt as to identity of the document to which I reference, please let me know and we will get it clear.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials relied upon by FSU in entering into the Agreement. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

Finally, if there are any contracts, agreements or other documents showing any other agreements between FSU and the ACC and/or any and/or all of its member institutions containing additional agreed to terms which form the rights and responsibilities of the various parties under the Agreement, I would like copies of those, also.

Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration and response to this statutory request. Compliance by mailing physical documents to my work address at **** , Tallahassee, Florida 32301 or by emailing .pdfs is sufficient.

Sincerely,

[Allnoles]

____________________________________________________________________

Ok, I decided as long as we are at this, we may as well find out what exists as to the ND Agreement. Too many claim there is some long term agreement to have ND join. I would like to know if there is any basis whatsover for that claim.

Sent this am, 7/22/15 -

Hello, I am not a member of the press, so you may not be the right person to whom this should be directed. Please confirm by reply email if you are. If you are not, please let me know and let me know who is. I am copying Carolyn Egan to ensure the General Counsel's office has notice of this request.

This request is being made pursuant to Section 119.07 and all related statutes, constitutional provisions and/or administrative rules.

I would like to obtain a copy of the contract or agreement entered in 2012 between the Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") and/or its member institutions and the University of Notre Dame ("ND"). I will refer to this as the "ND Agreement" herein, but my titling of the document is for reference only and should not limit FSU's response solely to documents with that as an official title. This request includes any amendments to the ND Agreement. If there is an confusion as to what I refer, you can see this link for a news story on the deal - http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8369070/notre-dame-sports-football-hockey-acc. If there are still any questions as to what I refer, please let me know immediately and we will get it cleared up.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials relied upon by FSU in voting for the ND Agreement as an ACC member institution. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials generated by any FSU agent or employee (whether internally within FSU or sent to anyone outside of FSU) in discussing, evaluating, analyzing or otherwise considering the ND Agreement, before or after the vote as an ACC member institution. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

Finally, if there are any contracts, agreements or other documents showing any other agreements between ND and the ACC and/or any and/or all of its member institutions containing additional agreed to terms which form the rights and responsibilities of the various parties under the ND Agreement, I would like copies of those, also.

Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration and response to this statutory request. Compliance by mailing physical documents to my work address at ***, Tallahassee, Florida 32301 or by emailing .pdfs is sufficient.

Sincerely,

[Allnoles]

___________________________________________________________________________

Response to both is the same for now, am 7/22/15 -

Mr. ***,

This is to confirm that we have received your public records request. It has been provided to the General Counsel’s office for processing, per our normal protocol. We will be in touch.

Regards,
Browning

1 AllNoles, Jul 21, 2015

Last edited: Jul 22, 2015

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/grant-of-rights-agreement-details.128406/page-10

I did not pursue the ACC/ESPN side of things. I could have made it really ugly given the legal issues involved, and it would even be fun to take the depos of the folks involved, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would ultimately hurt the school badly just to satisfy intellectual curiosity. I chose not to do that. I will say it is interesting to me that the GoR (we call it that but it's just the conference membership agreement of which the GoR is a small, but critical, part) does not seem to have any obligations back from the conference to the member schools in terms of what is expected in any ACC/ESPN deal. In other words, I don't see any basis to claim breach of the ACC contract based on failure to meet some minimal standard with the media issues. In fact, the term ACCNetwork is not even in the ACC contract FSU signed.

369 AllNoles, Today at 11:28 AM (9/19/19)

FSU & Splash Mountain

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/splash-mountain.265237/

So totally off topic from our team but just thought I’d share for anyone that didn’t know. I was recently at Disney world for my daughters 5th birthday and she could hardly get enough of the ride, splash mountain. After about the third time through I thought I heard something say either “go FSU” or just “FSU” inside one of the caves. I didn’t give it much thought, however when I got back home I read where an engineer that worked at Disney and helped with splash mountain graduated from FSU and designed a gopher to drop from above and say FSU! Just thought it was pretty cool.


Where The FSU Gopher is Located

The Splash Mountain FSU gopher is located in the cavern scene, the last scene before the water log reaches the incline for the big drop. The specific gopher seems to be the one that pops out of the ceiling when the water log is approaching Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit. The next time you are on the ride, pay attention to the gopher and see if you can hear it say “FSU”.

You can also hear the gopher say FSU on many of the videos of the ride that are posted on the internet. Just pay attention toward the end of the cavern portion of the ride and you will hear the gopher say FSU rather clearly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=HyYurgf_6u4

Conference revenue discussion

https://csnbbs.com/thread-852698.html

why are ACC schools trailing so much in total revenue?

Is it in the ticket sales? Not really.
ACC teams aren't among the top in ticket sales, but many of them can hang with the likes of Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Florida.

The average ticket sales for the top 60 teams is $22.8M; the ACC average (for the public schools) is $20.8M -- a difference of only $2M.

Is it in the donations? No again.
There are a couple of top 10 teams in the donations category, and several ACC schools do well here.

The average donations for the top 60 teams is $25.5M; the ACC average (for the public schools) is $25.5M -- ACC teams are slightly ahead of the average, in fact.

No, it's the rights and licensing!
The average rights and licensing revenue for the top 60 teams is $46.6M; the ACC average (for the public schools) is $37.7M -- an $8.9M gap!

Auburn gets about $24 million more than Clemson.
Kentucky gets $31 million more than Louisville.
That's CRAZY!

Keep in mind that a big chunk of this is TV revenue, though there is some radio, apparel, etc. mixed in as well. The ACC Network should make up most of the average gap; individual schools will need to negotiate better-paying apparel deals, etc. on their own.

For data tables, click here.



Okay, so you've accounted for roughly 11 million out of a 43 million dollar gap. Where you are fouling up is on your averages for the top 60 teams. The SEC places 10 or 11 of their 14 within the top 20. So by expanding your averages to prove your point you mitigate the higher numbers of the SEC and Big 10 by averaging the top 60 schools. That's a nice trick but it is a fundamentally flawed method.

I'm sorry Mark, I really like a lot of your stuff, but this one is either totally naive, or the biggest gloss I've read in quite sometime. You easily eliminated 20 million of the 43 million dollar gap with the averages which deflated SEC numbers (mostly top 20) to make ACC numbers (mostly below the 40th position) look better. And by averaging only the ACC public schools (about half of the conference) you even elevate the ACC numbers more.

I'm not sure what this exercise is good for as it doesn't alter the reality, nor does it even explain, the very real differences.

And another big error in math that is glossed is that you averaged ticket costs, but you didn't account for a massive difference in venue size and actual attendance. 77,500 (average attendance in the SEC) x the ticket price is a lot more than 49,900 (average attendance in the ACC). And by averaging the ticket costs of the top 60 you again mitigate the costs of tickets for the top 20. Ditto on the donations.


You are still missing my point Mark. I agree with your comparisons on rights and licensing. But that accounts for 9 million. What I saw as flawed were donation and ticket sales comparisons. There's even more disparity there. But you can't take an average of the top 60 because the preponderance of ACC schools (even the public schools) is in the lower third and the preponderance of the SEC schools is in the top 1/3rd. You compare the ACC's deficit to the average. You can't do that because your totals drag the average way down. You can average the ACC schools and compare them to the average SEC school's ticket prices, or even donations, if you want a fair comparison. Or you can do that with regard to any of the other conferences. But you drastically reduce your actual deficits by comparing the ACC to an average which already includes your deficient numbers.

That's a methodology problem for both ticket prices because the top 20 schools get much more for them, and for donations again where he top 20 schools demand much higher required donations before you can even purchase tickets. On the lower third the skewing downward is even greater than say what Virginia Tech might receive. Some schools practically give away end zone and upper deck tickets. In the SEC even those sell for full price and require donations for the right to purchase them.

Yes there is a big difference in licensing contract totals. But the difference that separates the SEC from the Big 10 is in donation and ticket sales where we average 11,000 more in attendance per home game and where outside of Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State we have larger venues and therefore more ticket sales.

So I'm not taking exception to your main point, but rather against you saying that ticket sales (not prices per se) and donations do play a very significant role in the total revenue picture. And then even after that ticket prices from the lower 1/3rd compared to the ticket average of all 60 will be nowhere near as significant as compared to the top 1/3rd which after all is why there is such a great disparity. Taking that approach reduces gap by 50% for schools in the lower 1/3rd. So a 2 million dollar gap is probably a 6 million dollar gap from the top 1/3rd instead of a 2 million gap from the average of all 60.

There is 43 million to account for. So take away the difference in TV revenue alone (40.9 for the SEC - 28 for the ACC = ~ 13 million.

Licensing revenue difference= 9 million

Ticket sales in actuality (not against the average)= ~6 million

Thats 28 million right there. Donations will account for a good bit more.

But let's return to the ticket sales for a moment. The average for college football (attendance wise) is probably 60,000 which is 17,500 below the SEC average which if multiplied by the ticket prices x the number of games (SEC Ticket $75 x 4, other P school $75 x .5 G5 or less ($60 x 3)) = $300 + 37.5 + 180= $517.50 x 17,500= 9 million plus that is just plain missing from your math.

So the average SEC school using SEC pricing on only the 17500 in attendance which is over the attendance average of all P5 schools accounts for 9 million more than how you calculated the ticket differential and we haven't even given the SEC their full ticket price for the 60,000 figured at the average for all P5 schools. That would likely account for a few million more. Let's say 3 million.

Add that in and you are a lot closer to the 43 million dollar difference.

Best Tailgating

Nice find by https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/

http://newarena.com/ncaaf/the-30-best-tailgating-schools-in-college-football/

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/09/best-tailgating-2019.html

27. Florida State
Tallahassee is a wonderland of cocktails, beer bongs, barbecue, and scantily clad women. In short, there are few atmospheres better within the ACC footprint. Of course, the atmosphere is better when FSU is nationally relevant. All the same, one will have fun at Florida State when looking to throw a couple back before the contest begins.

College Town, Athletic Endowment, Booster Org update from Jerry Kutz

https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/so-how-much-of-this-downfall-do-we-place-on-andy-miller.263817/page-2#post-4552124

Just want to let you know I just posted a new Podcast about College Town on the Seminole Boosters new website http://unconqueredmagazine.com/ today.

It answers many of your questions about the project, its profitablility, and how it was funded that are being debated in this thread.

The most relevant listen is that CollegeTown is an investment of the endowed scholarship fund and can't be spent for anything other than scholarships.

Much of the land on which CollegeTown is built was donated by DeVoe and Shirley Moore to the scholarship endowment. Rather than sell what was blighted land for a few sheckles, Seminole Boosters built CollegeTown which has appreciated greatly (maybe by more than $50 million). So, if the decision is ever made to sell CT, the proceeds of the sale would have to go into the scholarship endowment fund as those proceeds would be earnings on the endowment funds invested. They could not be used to build a facility.

Jimbo was told this a number of times but I don't think he ever really heard it or believed it.

The investment committee who manages the scholarship endowment fund would not choose to invest in a building like the IPF or the FOF as those facilities do not generate earnings. If they earned 5 percent or more, the investment managers would consider them. There are people on this thread who say Jimbo wanted us to invest in those facilities, which would help football generate more money, and they are correct. That was how he viewed it. But that's not how it works from a bonding standpoint. Those facilities earn zero dollars, have interest payments of millions of dollars a year, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain once built.

When I was an employee of Seminole Boosters, the Boosters and I told this story over and over, including on Warchant podcast, but its hard to reach all 350,000 alumni at any one time so its not hard to understand why not everyone hears this message.

When people donate money to the scholarship fund, now over $60 million, that money is invested in stocks, bonds, real estate by the scholarship investment committee (professional fund managers) and only the interest on that endowment can be spent and only to pay for scholarships (which the donor restricts when funding). We look to earn about 5 percent on the endowment, which funds $3 million of the annual cost of scholarships (about $10 million annually).

The investment committee reviews a lot of different real estate investments and chose CollegeTown because it pays the endowment a guraranteed rate of I think 7 percent.

There's a lot of information on the podcast... but the one thing you cannot quantify about this project is what it has done to the value of the land in that part of town, which Seminole Boosters also owns and uses as as donor parking lots, for athletic housing etc ... Since those assets have appreciated significantly in value and are not investments of the endowment, they are now serving as a backstop or a "reserve fund" and could be liquidated when there is a shortfall in the athletics budget.

The new Seminole Boosters website is FREE for anyone to enjoy and a means by which Seminole Boosters can provide information like this about themselves and their projects on a more regular basis. My company, The Osceola, produces the content for www.UnconqueredMagazine.com as well as www.theosceola.com

While you are there, you can check out the first podcast we produced about the FSU Athletic Association with David Coburn and previous Seminole Booster Chairman Doug Russell which also answers questions about who the Boosters are, what its structure is, and what their role has been in raising money and now will be moving forward.

As so many of you have said, Seminole Boosters raise money but during Andy Miller's career has no control of how the athletic director chooses to distribute it. But that's changing under the new structure. The Booster President (Andy) will now have a seat at the athletic director's senior staff table, where ideas originate. The Seminole Booster Chairman (Doug last year and Bob Davis this year) will have a seat on the five man voting committee of the FSU Athletic Association. The AD who has always served on Booster executive committes, where Booster project and funding ideas originate, are now required to attend those meetings.

Each month we'll do another podcast on topics we think are relevant to our donors and need extra explanation beyond the interest or frequency of traditional media in an effort to connect with fans in a fragmented communications world.

Hope this helps.

 

Jerry Kutz is Publisher and Owner of the Osceola. He retired as Sr. Vice President of Seminole Boosters in 2019 where he was in charge of special projects including the $350 million Champions Campaign for FSU Athletics, renovations to Doak Campbell Stadium including the Champions Club. email: jkutz@theosceola.com Cell: (850) 508-8690

76 Jerry Kutz,