FSU settles with WVU, faces budget shortfall

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State and West Virginia stopped what could have been an ugly lawsuit or courtroom battle when the two schools agreed to a settlement that closes the door on their upcoming football series.

FSU athletic director Randy Spetman said West Virginia officials have agreed to pay $500,000 to FSU by the end of May because the Mountaineers backed out of the Sept. 8 game that was scheduled to be in Tallahassee.

West Virginia backed out of the game as part of its transition from the Big East to the Big 12 for the upcoming season.

FSU called schools across the country for nearly three weeks, but was left with little option but to play host to Savannah State, a Football Championship Series program that went 1-10 last season.

FSU was scheduled to play at West Virginia in 2013 as part of the home-and-home contract, but Spetman said that has now been canceled. The deal also closes the door on any legal action between the schools.

But FSU was banking on the West Virginia game in 2012 to produce revenue – both in single-ticket and season-ticket sales. Spetman had previously said that FSU earned between $2 million and $2.5 million more when it played No. 1 Oklahoma in 2011 compared to the previous week’s game against Charleston Southern.

So, replacing West Virginia with Savannah State not only hurts ticket sales, it affects the overall athletic budget at FSU.

“We are on (minimum) fuel, but we are going to make it in for the landing,” Spetman said.

Spetman and athletics department officials have trimmed where they could, but are still forced to operate with a $2.4 million deficit for the 2012-13 athletics season. The school’s athletics board approved the budget Wednesday, and FSU president Dr. Eric Barron will have the final say on whether the athletics department can tap into its own reserve fund or the Seminole Boosters’ reserves to cover the deficit.

FSU made cuts across the board as part of the budget.

-- A 10 percent reduction in travel expenses, which likely means programs will schedule more away games in the Southeast or east of the Mississippi River. While it wasn’t discussed Wednesday, more of FSU’s teams could be forced to drive instead of fly.

-- A 10 percent reduction in recruiting-related travel expenses, which likely means fewer trips by assistant coaches to make in-school or in-home visits to recruits.

“You have to reach into where the majority of the money is,” Spetman said. “They’ll be able to adjust monies, but that was the easiest thing to do.”

-- No raises/extensions for the basketball coaches. Spetman had said in March he was negotiating an extension with men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton. And Hamilton also wanted raises and/or extensions for his assistants after the Seminoles won the ACC tournament. But now those contract talks have been halted.

“There is no money,” Spetman said. “I’ve talked to them. They understand. It doesn’t make them happy. It doesn’t make me happy because I want to keep them here.”

-- Any scheduled improvements to current athletic fields or facilities are on hold.

The loss of the West Virginia game has a major impact on FSU’s athletics budget. But other factors include the increased tuition for student-athletes, higher fuel costs that have raised the travel burden and healthcare expenses for employees in the athletic department.

One athletics board member, Jim Smith, said other schools in the Southeast have budgets that increase 5-15 percent annually. FSU’s budget is decreasing by approximately $100,000 from last year.

“We’re going the wrong way,” said Smith, a former member of FSU’s Board of Trustees. “Something is fundamentally wrong at Florida State.”

Smith criticized Seminole Boosters for not doing more, but also said he doesn’t think members of the boosters are aware of the financial needs – or that the athletic department would be in a deficit.

“I believe FSU people will step up,” Smith said.

The Seminole Boosters are giving FSU’s athletics department $19.2 million for the 2012-13 year. And Seminole Boosters VP of Marketing and Communications Jerry Kutz said the group has been on the offensive and pushing to increase ticket sales and booster contributions in the coming months.

Kutz said about two-thirds of FSU’s season-ticket base lives approximately 2.5 hours from Tallahassee. So, with fans asked to drive in from Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg – not to mention longer hauls from South Florida – football fans have often opted to be selective in choosing which games they attend. More and more fans are choosing not to make the trip up to Tallahassee for seven Saturdays this fall and instead are buying up single-game tickets or three-game packs.

“It influences peoples’ decisions,” Kutz said. “We have a good schedule. You have Florida, Clemson and Wake Forest (playing in Tallahassee). If you are going to go to the ACC title game, you have two opponents that have beaten you the past few years.

“If you’re a college football fan, those three games are very attractive. Does West Virginia make it easier to buy a ticket? Of course. You bet. It is an impact. You’re looking at taking a good-sized hit.”