Florida State To Offer Bonds In Hopes Of Raising Over $300M For Facility Improvements

The public institution has been open about its need to obtain funding to compete at the highest level.

Apr 20, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Earl Little Jr (0) / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Florida State University’s Athletic Department will offer bonds to potential investors in hopes of raising $326.6 million to fund two major projects: the Doak Campbell Stadium renovations and the “Football Operations Facility” (FOF) building. Both projects forced the football team to readjust the logistics of its practices and Spring Showcase, but most importantly, it has made the athletic department’s wallet quite thin.

According to the preliminary offering statement provided by the Florida Division of Bond Finance, FSU has allotted $233.7 million to stadium renovations and $138.6 million toward the FOF, with construction expected to be finished before the beginning of the 2025 football season.

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According to the sports business outlet Sportico, the bonds will be available soon.

“The bonds, to be issued as early as next week by the State of Florida Board of Governors, are backed by revenue generated by the Seminoles, including conference payouts, ticket sales, annual booster donations and sponsorships. The $326.6 million is broken into two series—a $291.6 million Series 2024A and a $35 million taxable Series 2024B—and would join roughly $111 million in other athletics bonds, also tied to Seminoles revenue, with payments that are still outstanding,” the outlet reported.

Moreover, the school is attempting to fight a legal battle with the ACC and avoid paying even more hundreds of millions of dollars in order to leave the conference.

All three of these moves are evidence of one thing: Florida State University is committing to winning in the athletic realm.

The school has consistently complained that the status quo (or at least the status quo before the renovations, FOF, and the attempt to leave the conference) would not allow Florida State to compete with schools in conferences such as the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten. For the most part, their facilities are nicer and their revenues will exceed FSU’s by tens of millions in the coming years.

Throughout Florida State’s history, it has always been an athletic program that has had the success – and has even surpassed the success – of some of the biggest brands in college sports.

Unknown to some, FSU was the youngest Power Five football program before UCF joined the Big 12 in 2023. It was independent in football for the longest time until it joined the ACC in the early 90s.

It does not have the same amount of alumni or the firmly entrenched roots that other schools with 150-year athletic departments have. It has always done more with less. However, with the financial hurdles it faces, being frugal simply will not cut it.

The school will have to adapt, and this bond proposal appears to be an attempt to do so.

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