With the swirling rumors that an explosive expansion carousel was going to happen this week involving Florida State, Clemson, Oregon, and Washington to the Big Ten, those rumors were put to bed by Florida State this afternoon.
While the Seminoles are not leaving this week to the Big Ten, Florida State made well known they aren’t happy.
Here are key takeaways from today’s impromptu Board of Trustee meeting:
#1 FSU President lays ground work to leave
https://twitter.com/slmandel/status/1686826736707829760
FSU President Rich McCullough and Athletic Director Michael Alford have been working for the past 12 months investigating the current landscape of college sports. McCullough was bullish on FSU’s position in college football.
According to McCullough, from 2012 to 2022, FSU had 22 games with four million or more viewers and ranks 12th in viewership in the nation. The school’s president then pivoted toward the ACC deal, saying he would like FSU to stay in the ACC, but it would take a shift in the revenue sharing.
I doubt the ACC would agree on a revenue-sharing tier setup to accommodate FSU.
More Sports News
#2 There is a time frame to leave
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1686831436936921089
Trustee Justin Roth gave a hard analysis that followed that the revenue gaps being compounded until the end of the ACC Grant of Rights deal in 2036.
Collectively trustees Roth and Bob Sasser, coupled with former Seminoles quarterback and current trustee Drew Weatherford, stated that the amount of money being lost can be overcome.
Roth challenged the trustees and administrators that the school needs to have an exit plan together out of the ACC in the next 12 months.
#3 They aren’t phased by the potential buyout
The universal tone that President McCullough, AD Alford, and trustees held is that all of them have a fiduciary responsibility to the students, alumni, and other stakeholders of the university to position it in the best position to compete.
Weatherford, in his time, asked if the rest of the trustees wanted to play games or compete. Another trustee brought up that sports have not been extracurricular activities for a long time and it is big business. If the university wants to continue to compete for championships, it must receive the same revenues as its chief competitors.
President McCullough even boasted about the amazing fundraising abilities of the Seminoles Boosters, saying they raised over $77 million a year.
The key takeaway between fundraising and a potential loan from the endowment that would be paid back at a low-interest loan. There are options to escape what the figure would be to break the Grant of Rights.
Final Analysis
The most important tone is while this is football driven, every single person in the meeting recognized the importance of football and the cascade effect it has on all the other programs.
To not position their athletics properly was not in anyone’s interest.
All agreed they want to protect all their athletes and position themselves to attract the best athletes and support them with championship facilities, venues, and opportunities to succeed with Florida State.
They are serious about making sure they get out of a bad long-term deal they are in that poorly positions their athletes in the future.
For the ACC, an exit fee of $300 to $500 million won’t phase this leadership group. They are looking beyond the interim setback and looking at how that will be made up.
The tone one trustee had was staying in the conference would be “death by a thousand cuts.”
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1686830086882807810
Now it is whether the SEC or Big Ten want to add this very attractive option to their portfolios. It should only enhance the payouts in that league. This is one neither side wants to lose, and the Seminoles are looking.
