'The brand is still the brand' ... Alford bullish on FSU's future despite poor season
There is no way to overstate the impact that prolonged poor performance on the football field can have on an athletics department’s budget.
Decreased ticket sales, lost sponsorships and sagging booster contributions are just the beginning of what can lead to an avalanche of financial challenges, which only make it tougher for that program to turn around its fortunes.
Avoiding that spiral is precisely why schools like Florida State are willing to do what the Seminoles did this week — paying three assistant coaches millions of dollars to not coach — with the hopes of a quick turnaround.
Time will tell whether those changes, and others that are expected in the coming weeks, will work for Florida State and head coach Mike Norvell. But athletics director Michael Alford told Warchant on Tuesday he is buoyed by the fact that FSU’s donors and season ticket-holders have proven to be extremely resilient.
Even with this 1-9 record in 2024, one year following a 13-1 campaign, Alford said FSU’s boosters are still stepping up to offer their support.
“We’ve had some very large gifts just this week,” Alford said.
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The timing of Florida State’s worst season in decades is far from ideal, of course, with the Seminoles still in the process of selling ticket packages for the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium, which will be unveiled at the start of the 2025 season.
The largest suites and luxury boxes sold out as soon as they became available, and Alford has said that ticket sales have exceeded projections throughout the process. Even now, he said, when existing season ticket-holders take their tours of the interactive preview center, they are “extremely excited” about the packages available.
“The people we have walked through the preview center with, sat down with, showed the options, shown why we’re doing this, shown comparisons to the marketplace, they understand,” Alford said. “They understand the commitment to get this program back, and they understand that they’re part of the commitment to provide the resources for now and the future.
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“We have not seen sales or excitement in that process dwindle at any moment.”
Alford said he also doesn’t believe that Florida State’s struggles this season will have a negative impact on the school’s chances of obtaining a more lucrative media rights deal in the future.
FSU is in the midst of a protracted legal battle with the Atlantic Coast Conference, with a goal of exiting the conference and joining a league that provides substantially larger television payouts. The Seminoles also have reportedly explored the possibility of staying in the ACC in exchange for a larger chunk of the media revenue than other schools.
Alford declined to discuss the ongoing lawsuits during his Warchant interview, but he said Florida State’s prospects won’t be diminished by one poor season. He pointed out that FSU still draws huge television numbers and is regularly featured in prime-time windows.
“The brand is still the brand,” Alford said. “Everybody I talk to in the country in this profession, whether it’s administratively or coaching-wise, all know we’re going to get this back. And they know it will be very quick. That is the sentiment across the country.
“Does it hurt us in our negotiations? Those are still ongoing. People understand Florida State. They understand this is a strange year. This is not the norm. People also anticipate us getting back very quickly.”
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Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.
