BOT discuss Doak project but not FSU-ACC future until football season ends

The Florida State Board of Trustees meeting held on Friday included a robust update on athletics accomplishments as well as discussion of proposed Doak Campbell Stadium improvements but was intentionally light on ACC expansion with Stanford, University of California and Southern Methodist University and its impact on FSU.

After the BOT meeting ended, The Osceola asked Board Chairman Peter Collins about the ACC expansion and what affect it may bave on the Seminoles future plans in the ACC.

“I don’t know what (ACC expansion) long term means for Florida State,” Chairman Collins told The Osceola. “We’re focused on having a very successful football season and you’re probably not going to hear a lot out of us the rest of the year about this. But it doesn’t mean there’s not work going on, conversations being had.”

Collins welcomed the three new ACC teams. “They are going to be members of the ACC now and our vote wasn’t any reflection on those three schools,” he said. “We’re continuing to work but we probably won’t have any conversations about (FSU’s future in the ACC), certainly at the board level before the end of the season.”

The majority of the athletics presentation focused on a $250-million-plus improvement to Doak Campbell Stadium that will require a special vote of the Board of Trustees, expected in the next couple of weeks, in order for construction to begin after the 2023 football season. FSU Vice President Kyle Clark and AD Michael Alford reviewed a lengthy feasibility study, construction costs, revenue potential and seating opportunities.

Trustee Drew Weatherford, a former FSU quarterback, praised the project for the revenue it will generate for football as wells as FSU’s 20 sports.

“What I really appreciate about the presentation is it just highlights our commitment to all sports and all student-athletes,” Wetherford said. “There's been a lot of chatter, some people call it ‘barking’ in the media, about the importance of money. I know a lot of people probably wonder why we're talking about football so much.

“We can’t do all of this without football. Right? We're going to talk more about stadium renovations later, but I want everyone to keep in mind these are revenue-generating developments, projects that we're working on so that we can continue not just to make our football program the best football program in the country, but to make all of our programs the best programs in the country. That’s why we prioritize certain things, and have said certain things in the media, because we want our entire university to benefit, not just one team.”

Alford reinforced Weatherford’s comment regarding his commitment to comprehensive excellence and his concern about funding those other 19 sports at FSU not named football.

“That is my biggest concern going through what's going on in the national landscape right now — with conference realignment, with TV contracts and the success initiatives,” Alford said. “My biggest concern is the gap that we discuss. It’s not going to allow us to compete in the other 19 sports. The financial difference that other institutions are going to have (in the SEC and Big Ten), they'll be able to elevate some of the sports they haven't competed with us in … when it comes to the other 19 sports.”

Collins said the preliminary study for the project began in 2020.

“We started doing the questions and the surveys, seeing what the fans wanted because we knew we needed to make some changes in Doak Campbell Stadium,” Collins said. “We started with a really-comprehensive survey and the Boosters really dug in on that survey, started communicating with the board, and based on that survey we started looking at some things we could do, options we could have for the stadium, and out of that came what you saw today, a specific number of boxes (8), loge boxes (24), seating options. As I’ve said before, its not just to raise prices, it’s about giving fans a different experience, an experience that they requested.”

The Seminole Boosters Board has approved the project and advanced it to the BOT for review.

“We could have taken it as an action item today but it’s probably one of the most aggressive (project) in athletics we’ve done in a long time and so I wanted the board to take their time,” Collins said. “I want them to get a briefing on it individually, so that when we take our vote it is a fully informed vote and nobody can say, ‘Well I didn’t know this’ or ‘I didn’t know that.’ ”

Seminole Boosters and Athletics prepared a bond funding package, which was presented to the Board of Governors for approval two weeks ago — a 90-day BOG requirement — so there are multiple approvals being requested in parallel before the next Board of Governors meeting scheduled for the first week in November.

“We’re going to spend the next couple of weeks going over the project with each of the board members and then come back and we’ll have a special meeting of the board to have a vote on the project before the Board of Governors meeting,” Collins said. “We can’t present it there unless we’ve had a vote.”

The project will take at least 18 months to complete so the timing on the approval, and commencement of the project, is important to completing the construction in time for the 2025 season.

“It’s a massive project. What started out as maybe cutting out just a part of the west stands, now the entire west stands have to come down and it’s lengthened the project,” Collins said. “We are going to displace some people for the 2024 season.”

The fans will be inconvenienced for one season but can look forward to significant improvements by the 2025 season.

“We can’t do it and not disturb what’s there,” Collins said.

During the presentation to the Board, Seminole Booster President and CEO Stephen Ponder spelled out the timeline for the project, noting temporary seating would be required for the west sidelines and assured the board all 2023 season ticket holders would be accommodated. But Ponder was frank about the inconvenience fans would experience, noting the message “pardon our progress” will need to be conveyed.

“We have three things going on right now: We have the approval process, we have the construction process and we have the sales process,” Ponder began.

“From an approval process, the Seminole Booster board has approved it, it’s now going to the FSUAA, the Board of Trustees and then the Board of Governors,” Ponder said. “Meanwhile, we are working with our construction company to make sure we hit deadlines with all of our packages to build. And then in the sales process, we’re in the club seat section, which is the third opportunity, and we have about nine more (seating experiences) to go.”

The sales process is slow as the Boosters want to meet one at a time with each season ticket holder and donor in priority point order to optimize communication. They’ve met with 1,500 donors thus far and sold 1,014 club seats, about half of the club seat inventory available, in addition to eight mid-level suites and 24 loge boxes.

FSU reps have 29 appointments set up for this weekend and will schedule appointments with out-of-town patrons for upcoming home game weekends

The sales process started for the mid-level suites with season-ticket holders and donors in priority point order. Once those eight mid-level suites were sold, FSU began to offer 24 loge boxes and, when they were sold out, began offering club seats. FSU’s reps are now halfway through the sale of approximately 2,200 club seats. Once those are sold, FSU will release the next product, at a lower price point, and continue scheduling meetings with season ticket holders and donors in priority point order. Each time a new seating experience opens, the Booster reps will double back on those who passed on previous offerings.

“We’re going to go back to them and say, ‘Ok, what about this one?’ ” Ponder said. “We’re trying to be as personal as possible, so people don’t have to interpret through an email.”

The project has reached the point of approvals now that the Boosters will begin mass communication so season ticket holders and donors know what to expect in coming years.

“Next week, we want to email information out to all season-ticket holders and all Boosters about the process, and when they can expect phone calls, how they can get involved,” Ponder said.

In addition to the premium seating products on the west side of Doak, the new sideline project will also expand the tread depth (distance between rows) from 27 inches to 33 inches, which will enable FSU to offer a chair-back seating experience, in addition to the club seat offering. The chairback option has not been offered thus far.

In addition to the premium amenities on the west side, the project will enhance the east side by expanding the width of seats from 16 to 18 inches and expanding the aisles to accommodate handrails. These enhancements reduce the capacity, which necessitates a reseating of Doak Campbell Stadium, the methodology of which will be spelled out in upcoming correspondence.

There will be other enhancements on the east side, including a “mesh bottom that will get everyone off the bleacher,” Ponder said. In addition to comfort, Ponder said the mesh bottom breathes, so it may feel cooler than the bleacher seat and will mark your 18-inch wide seat. “The east side of the stadium will have a new experience, to a different degree, but a new experience,” he said.

“The plan is to take down the west stands and replace the west stands with temporary bleachers, the same seats they used at the Tampa Bay Bucs and some others,” Ponder said. “It’s a smaller number of seats but everyone who is a season-ticket holder for 2023 will have seats for 2024, but their location may shift a little bit.”

Ponder said the communication plan will start next week and acknowledged the communication challenge of the massive project. It will address the priority seating process as well.

“As we shift everyone through this entire process, we have to go through the migration,” Ponder said. “As certain people move to these seats, who fills those? So, it’s really a seat-migration program. Ultimately a re-seat. But it’s an entire process.”

Ponder said changes to the Champions Club, which will expand the number of seating options and reduce capacity, will not begin until after the 2024 season.

“Because it’s a smaller project, it can be done in between (seasons),” he said. “Next year (2024), the Champions Club will be as it is for this year, but we will utilize those seats for (2024) because we will have limited capacity.”

FSU will renovate the club between the 2024 and 2025 seasons and will offer six to eight seating options, including a loge product.

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