Florida State Board of Trustees chairman Peter Collins pushed back on some national and regional stories that criticized the more than $400 million in long-term athletics debt accumulated as a result of the Doak Campbell Stadium renovation and construction of a new football operations building.
FSU reported $437 million in long-term athletics debt as a result of the projects, which were noted as among the highest in the nation. (Penn State is thought to be the highest among public schools, per Sportico.)
But Collins reinforced the need was there — for more square footage for FSU’s football players, coaches and staff in the new building as well as premium seating options in Doak for fans that delivered added football ticket and Booster revenue in 2025 and beyond as well as future events revneue.
“Yes, we have a lot more debt that we had a year ago,” Collins said at Wednesday’s BOT meeting. “But we also have a brand new west side of the stadium, with a lot of other improvements to the stadium, and we have a brand new football only facility. And the revenue that we’re getting from the new football stadium is paying for those bonds.”
Athletics construction projects through the decades at FSU have been funded by donors and bonded out over 30 years. The football building and Doak project were tied together as revenue from tickets is used to cover the annual bond payments.
Collins said FSU’s debt service is 12 percent of the athletics budget but says “that’s really good.” BOT members discussed FSU’s bond rating, which they said is the best among the public universities in Florida. And they also said the alternative for FSU athletics would have been to sit still and not take on the Doak project or football building.
“We could have zero debt. Just not build anything,” Collins said. “But if you want to build facilities and if you want to increase revenues and if you want to stay competitive, you have to build.”
FSU athletics director Michael Alford said: “I call it strategic investments.”
Another BOT member, Jorge Gonzalez, questioned the news value of this story nationally but offered that it could be written through the lens of an FSU football team that went 2-10 in 2024 and 5-7 in 2025.
Alford stated that FSU had just 42,000 square feet dedicated to football in 2022, with all of that space in the Moore Athletic Center. A fundraising campaign began years earlier, but FSU officials held a groundbreaking in December 2022 for the new football building. The Seminoles moved into the building in October 2025, and office space inside Moore is now used for other sports (including lacrosse) and academic advising.
Now, FSU has 150,000 square feet for the football team, and Alford said that is second only to Clemson’s 178,000-square foot facility. Alford thinks FSU has one of the top football buildings in the nation.
ACC media distributions
College football fans tuned into the team, regardless of the wins and losses in a 5-7 season. And the viewership is good news for FSU athletics’ bottom line now that the ACC Success Initiative — won in a settlement between FSU and the ACC — allocates multi-media rights based on viewership rather than split equally.
Alford reported FSU was second in the ACC in football total viewership at 29.7 million fans. (It’s not immediately clear if Clemson or Miami was No. 1.) As a result, FSU is projected to receive the highest media distribution in the ACC at $44.9 million for the fiscal year ending June 2026. Alford said basketball ratings would impact the final number.
FSU led the ACC with an average audience of 4 million and earned approximately $10.5 million more than if equal revenue sharing were still in effect ($44.9 million vs. $34.4 with equal revenue sharing)
Alford attributes the increased viewership, approximately 24 percent, to a marketing campaign consultants put together for FSU to self-promote its upcoming games in addition to traditional network promotion. Alford estimates the promotion generated $1.5 million more in MMR distribution than if the Seminoles had not self-promoted games.
“We’ll continue to push to be sure people know when our games are,” Alford noted.
He estimated FSU’s media distributions could escalate to:
$45.9 million in FY 27 (ending June 2027)
$49.3 million in FY 28
$50.6 million in FY 29
$51.9 million in FY 30
Football revenues
With the new football seat requirements put in place prior to the 2025 season, Alford said FSU athletics generated $8.2 million more for the annual fund. Of that amount, $3.2 million more came from the Champions Club as a result of how FSU charges for the seats.
Rather than a $1,500 charge for a chairback seat, FSU is allocating $500 to ticket revenue and $1,000 to the annual fund.
Ticket Sales update
Despite some attrition from longtime season ticket holders during the renovation process, Alford reported that 31,461 season ticket were sold in 2025, which is more than in prior seasons and 1,000 more than the four-year average.
Season ticket sales represented 82 percent of the new capacity, which is the highest since 2016. Alford noted ideal season ticket sales is 96 percent of season ticket capacity.
The charts he presented reveal season ticket capacity is now 38,230 — 10,689 seats below previous capacity of 48,919.
Football investment
Alford presented charts showing FSU’s football average investment over the 2021-2023 years ($68.8 million) ranks among the top 10 nationally and second within the ACC. The Seminoles’ average football investment would rank third in the SEC and fourth in the Big 10. Over a 10-year span (2013-23), the Seminoles’ investment in football averaged 8 percent, which ranks 19th, and third in the ACC. FSU would be ranked 8th in the SEC over this time span and 9th in the Big Ten.
In 2022, FSU ranked 6th in the ACC in football-specific square footage with 41,800 square feet. The ACC average was 67,022. FSU now has 150,000 square feet devoted to football, second only to Clemson’s 178,000.
In terms of football coaches’ salaries (head coach and assistants), Alford said FSU’s annual current expense of $18.8 million is ranked 12th nationally and second in the ACC.
GPA, grad rates rising
FSU had a departmental GPA of 3.33 in the fall 2025, a new high for a single semester. Of FSU’s more than 500 athletes, 76 percent had a 3.0 GPA or higher. Women’s golf (3.75 GPA) and men’s tennis (3.52 GPA) were the leaders.
Alford said FSU’s athlete graduation rate has soared from 83 percent to 92 percent, and he’d like to see it continue to increase.
NIL reporting
All athlete NIL deals over $600 must be reported and analyzed by the College Sports Commission. Alford offered some details on deals FSU has reported as of Feb. 23, with 120 cleared, 16 in review (more information needed) and one not cleared.
He noted that as of the latest national report (Jan. 1, 2026) that 35,306 athletes have registered, with 17,321 NIL deals clearing and 524 not clearing.
Of those NIL deals cleared, Alford said the average deal is $7,000.
Alford said there are three reason NIL Go will not clear a deal: “A lack of a valid business purpose, you don’t reach the range of compensation for similarly situated athletes, and no direct activation … not showing up for appearances. Doing what you are saying you are doing.”
Alford noted there’s confusion among fans and media regarding the difference between revenue share (up to $20.5 million per school) and NIL, where there’s Multi Media Endorsements that can be arranged by the school or partners, and an unlimited number of Athlete Endorsements that can be put together by the athlete or his agency.
While there is a hard cap on revenue share, which is controlled by the school, there is not a cap on athlete-generated endorsements “as long as you have a business purpose, you put it through the system and it gets approved by NIL Go and comes back without any questions.”
He continued to push back on the mega-donor deals that other schools have reportedly made for athletes. Alford insisted those mega-donor deals are not being approved by the CSC, noting $13 million nationally has been denied in the last few days.
Alford said CSC is currently hiring another 12 investigators to enforce the rules.
“You are starting to see some inquiries and that is very encouraging,” Alford said. “As an industry we want structure and enforcement.”
Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for 40 percent off to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn a $15 gift card at the Osceola’s merch store.
