Due primarily to a decline in ticket sales and a smaller payout from the Atlantic Coast Conference -- neither of which was unexpected -- Florida State’s athletics department and Seminole Boosters Inc., saw their combined revenues drop nearly six percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2016.
According to FSU athletics department documents obtained by Warchant, the Seminoles generated just $20.96 million in ticket revenue for the 2015 season -- that was a drop of nearly $5.5 million from the 2014 campaign. And the ACC’s annual distribution dropped from nearly $26 million to $23.92 million.
That left the combined revenue of FSU’s athletics department and Seminole Boosters Inc., the department’s fundraising arm, at $114,754,314, compared to the year earlier total of $122,037,252.
Because the department prepared for those dips -- the ticket revenue was expected to be low because of a soft home schedule in '15, and the ACC payout was inflated the year before by Maryland’s one-time exit penalty -- FSU's athletics department still was able to generate a surplus of $1.846 million for the year. Once those numbers were combined with Seminole Boosters for purposes of NCAA reporting, however, the university actually showed a loss of $1.877 million.
University officials told Warchant that loss was “on paper only” and it represented items considered to be non-recurring in nature, including lower-than-expected return on some Seminole Boosters investments. They said those are not expected to reoccur during the coming fiscal year. It did not affect the Boosters’ ability to supplement the department’s budget -- they contributed nearly $27.75 million during that fiscal year -- nor did it affect the operation of the department.
Since Stan Wilcox was named athletics director in August 2013, FSU’s athletics department has generated a cumulative surplus of $12.6 million. That's not including the combined $2.6 million that the athletics department and Seminole Boosters give back to the university each year.
Of course, that total surplus was boosted largely by a banner year in 2014-15.
Not only did each school in the ACC receive a payment of about $2.615 million as a result of Maryland’s departure to the Big Ten, but the Seminoles also benefited from an extremely strong 2014 football schedule. Florida, Clemson and Notre Dame all came to Doak Campbell Stadium that season, while the only marquee home game in 2015 was rival Miami.
FSU also received about $3.5 million in guarantee money for playing Oklahoma State in Dallas to open the 2014 campaign. The Seminoles did not have a neutral-site game in 2015.
Even with the reduced revenue, FSU likely will rank among the top 20 or 25 schools nationally in that category, as well as the leader in the ACC. While other schools have not released their most recent numbers yet, FSU’s $114.75 million would have ranked 16th nationally one year earlier; it would have been first in the ACC, followed by Louisville at $104 million.
* Warchant Extra: Managing editor Ira Schoffel offers more insights into FSU's financials and answers readers' questions on the Tribal Council message board.
FSU’s revenues are expected to see a significant uptick again next year. The Seminoles should see increases in ticket revenue due to having 2016 home games against rivals Florida and Clemson as well as from the premium seating in the new Champions Club. The ACC also is expected to increase its annual distribution as a result of various factors, including increased television revenues and strong performance by conference members over the past several years in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The new ACC television network, which was announced last summer and is expected to launch in 2019, also is expected to help the ACC close the revenue gap on other conferences that already boast successful television networks. Just last month, the SEC released tax documents showing that several member schools received more than $40 million in the most recent fiscal year.
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