In Florida State athletic department, budget cuts coming, Orlando Sentinel

January 27, 2009
By Andrew Carter

I’m playing catch-up here, and I apologize for the absence yesterday, but wanted to touch on this story from the Tallahassee Democrat. Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman told the newspaper that a 10 percent athletic department budget cut is possible in the 2009-10 academic year.

Working in the newspaper business, I’m familiar with that kind of talk. And it’s not good.
Spetman told the Democrat, “What we are doing right now is looking at a 10-percent reduction in our budget for next year, 2009-10, which is a huge (measure). We have not finished that study to see how we get there because we have a lot of hard costs.”

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Financial considerations prompt Florida State Seminoles to agree to face South Florida Bulldogs, St. Pete Times

January 23, 2009
By Brian Landman

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden didn't sound particularly optimistic, or even particularly enthusiastic, about scheduling ever-improving USF as recently as last summer.

"You usually try to find somebody that you've got a chance to win (against) instead of getting your nose bloodied," he said in July.

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Florida Gators outspend Oklahoma Sooners on football by 63 percent, Palm Beach Post

January 7, 2009
By Charles Elmore


Jakie Sandefer played halfback for legendary Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson in two 1950s Orange Bowls before getting into the oil and gas exploration game. He wasn't about to miss a return trip to South Florida tonight.

His alma mater, which won 47 straight in his day, meets modern juggernaut Florida for the first time, with the national championship of college football at stake.

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University of Florida's marketing savy and athletic prowess have the dollars rolling in, Sun Sentinel

January 8, 2009
By Sarah Talalay

University of Florida fan Michelle Jackson has her outfit for college football's national championship game picked out: UF T-shirt, Gator tennis shoes and Gator earrings. She might add her Gator necklace and charm bracelet, too.

Fans like Jackson, of Palm Beach Gardens, are boosting royalties at the University of Florida every time they plunk down dollars for blue and orange apparel and trinkets. With three national championships since 2006 — two in men's basketball and one in football — UF has seen royalties grow to a high of $5.9 million in 2006-07 from $2.4 million in 2004-05.

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Report: Athletes' Test scores lag behind class, MSNBC

December 28, 2008

ATLANTA, Ga. - Football and men's basketball players are averaging hundreds of points less on their college entrance exams than their classmates, according to a newspaper's study of 54 public universities.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution review found the biggest gap between football players and students occurred at the University of Florida, where players scored 346 points lower than the school's overall student body.

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Donors, athletics foot the bill for tutoring, Chicago Tribune

By Ron Grossman
November 28, 2008

Where does the money come from to build and run athletes-only academic facilities?

Many universities find a sports-minded benefactor to underwrite construction costs. His or her name often goes on the tutoring center, in the same way a library or science lab might be named for a donor.

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At the legal limit, NY Times

By Kevin Sack
October 29, 2008

IT is 10:30 a.m., two hours before the Florida Gators will kick off to Ole Miss, and Max, a 19-year-old freshman, is laboring to explain how he feels about the drinking age.

“Per-son-al-ly,” he says, punching out each slurred syllable, “I do agree the age should be lowered. It will cut down on binge drinking.” He throws an arm around a fraternity brother. “But we take care of each other. We will not let anyone drink under the influence.” He pauses. “I mean drive under the influence. I’m sorry. I’m drunk already. It’s been a long morning.”

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Report: Donovan officially signs contract with Florida, TSN

Gainesville, FL (Sports Network) - Billy Donovan reportedly signed his six- year, $21 million contract Friday, after agreeing to the extension 16 months ago following a bizarre set of events where Donovan was briefly the coach of the NBA's Orlando Magic.

Florida basketball spokesman Fred Demarest confirmed the signing to the Orlando Sentinel, with the contract set to pay Donovan $3.5 million per year through the 2012-13 season. He was paid by those terms last season despite never actually signing the deal, according to Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley.

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"Special" treatment for star athletes, Indianapolis Star

By Mark Alesia
September 7, 2008

Former Indiana University football coach Gerry DiNardo doesn't recall any battles to get recruits into school, including the 42 percent of his first class that didn't meet IU's normal entrance requirements.

As at Louisiana State, where DiNardo also coached, he said if players met the NCAA's minimum academic standards, he could count on them being admitted.

To read the rest of this article, and the underlying report, click here.

Machen and Meyer talk of rising above tough times, Gainesville Sun

By Nathan Crabbe
August 21, 2008


University of Florida President Bernie Machen on Wednesday renewed his call for the state to use rainy-day funds to forestall budget cuts.

Machen, speaking at the 38th annual UF Joint Civic Club luncheon, said the university has endured $100 million in cuts and more are likely this fiscal year.

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Florida State must stop stonewalling, Orlando Sentinel

By Mike Bianchi
August 20, 2008

Not much sunshine in Orlando this week because of Tropical Storm Fay.Not much Sunshine in Tallahassee either due to another tropical storm on the horizon -- a top-secret list of alleged NCAA violations.

The Sunshine we're talking about is the State of Florida's Sunshine Law, which Florida State is once again trying to finagle around amid an academic fraud scandal that has turned into a national embarrassment for the Seminoles and their athletic department.

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Colleges pay high price to win top football recruits, Florida Today (Melbourne)

By David Jones
July 29, 2008

GAINESVILLE — With dozens of top college football recruits sprinkled around the Southeastern Conference getting ready to arrive on campus, some marvel how the league continues to land the best of the best in athletics.

One of those reasons boils down to simple numbers — financial numbers. The Chronicle of Higher Education did a two-month study which reveals that 48 percent of NCAA Division I athletic departments at least doubled athletic recruiting budgets in the past 10 years. The Chronicle’s analysis, provided to FLORIDA TODAY, is based upon data reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

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For a related story, click here.

UF, Sun Sports ink 10-year $100 M deal, Orlando Business Journal

By John Ourand and Michael Smith
July 14, 2008

The University of Florida and Fox's Sun Sports have signed a media rights deal that is not only one of the most lucrative in the country, but also could end the likelihood of an SEC channel being created any time soon.

The deal will pay Florida's marketing arm, the University Athletic Association, roughly $10 million a year for the next 10 years. Florida, one of the Southeastern Conference's most marketable schools, was one of the few major colleges that handled many of its marketing and media rights in-house.

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Universities should keep focus on education, not athletics, St. Pete Times

July 14, 2008

Universities should keep the focus on education Your editorial and the quote from a former Oklahoma University president about "wanting a university the football team could be proud of" made my day. I spent 22 years teaching at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, two institutions that produce great education and research because their educational philosophies keep the spotlight on the fundamentals of institutions of higher education.

To read the rest of this letter to the editor, click here.

Budget no sweat for UF athletics, The Ledger (Lakeland) and St. Pete Times

By Antonya English
July 12, 2008

GAINESVILLE On July 1, the University of Florida began a new fiscal year in which $47 million and about 150 employees will be cut from the university's budget because of tough economic times and decreased state funding.

But as universities and many athletic departments around the nation struggle financially, Florida remains among the nation's wealthiest athletic programs. The Gators' overall budget is expected to increase 8 percent this year, to about $84.5 million.

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