I’m not offering this as an editorial comment in any way, but simply to point how other schools go about their financial business.
Florida is about to embark on an ambitious facility upgrade plan involving a new baseball and football facility estimated to cost around $130 million. Here’s how the athletic department plans to pay for it:
For the entire $130 million project (an additional $4 million is needed for relocation of the maintenance department and infrastructure costs), Florida has already secured about $73 million in funding. Of that $73 million, $50 million will be bonded, in a measure approved by the Board of Trustees on Friday. That measure must still be approved by the Board of Governors at the end of June. Another $13 million has already been secured in philanthropic support, while $10 million comes from UAA investment earnings.
That leaves Florida needing to raise about $57 million more prior to breaking ground on the stand-alone football facility.
So, $50 million in borrowing, $13 million directly from donors and $10 million from reserve fund earnings. Definitely different from Athens.
On the other hand, nobody on Mullen’s football staff has called Florida’s AD out for being cheap on the arms race front.
Get The Picture 
I don’t know if I’d be happy with Georgia committing to a project that they fall $57 million short of funding on, but I know there’s got to be some happy medium that produces a better baseball facility than what we currently have. Foley looks like a vintage set piece from Bull Durham.
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Article says they’re not breaking ground until the $57 million is raised, so I think this is more announced than committed.
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It also says construction on some of the projects will begin this Summer, so I guess I just interpreted it to mean they were hoping to raise the money while the projects were ongoing.
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Sorry I missed the key phrase “prior to breaking ground on construction of the stand-alone football facility.”
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Sometimes I wonder had UGA won the CWS in 2008 if Foley might look a bit more complete now but then I think we all know the answer. I get that maybe they don’t want to commit to adding more seats to a college baseball stadium with a bad on-field product (a whole other gripe) but would it really kill them to build patio levels down the lines to cover up all the lawn equipment storage and make it not feel like a half-assed softball stadium? A little ingenuity and vision could go a long way toward making the place at least look decent. A lot of ingenuity and vision could make it a truly special venue but I’m not about to get my hopes up on that end.
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Hate to hijack the thread, but it’s stuff like this that makes the argument for additional money flowing to the student-athlete and for the determination these aren’t NFPs in the classic sense anymore.
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I have heard that UF has let facilities get behind their rivals….sure sounds like it.
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It too different from the UGAA’s past approach of funding projects with donations and debt…
https://m.moodys.com/Research.html?docid=PR_903544989
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Make that NOT too different…..
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Have to have a password to access… what’s your angle on the information?
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I hope it gets hit by a meteor after construction is complete (while empty).
F UF.
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I understood UGA and UF were behind in the facilities arms race which doesn’t make it surprising that the West was dominating. Mullen had Miss St building facilities and more competitive. You can debate on how competitive but Miss St had not been that consistently competitive in a long time if ever. No shock he wants UF to build, it will be interesting to see what he gets. He may or may not be an equal to Smart but he will likely have the Crocs improving from where they have been with the past 2 coaches.
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We’re very happy with the way we do things at UGA. Look, I’ve said repeatedly that the reserve funds cannot be touched. I really don’t understand why there is so much focus on it. There are some very connected and influential people that make a lot of money off the reserves. It’s not like it’s just money sitting in a savings account at a bank. That’s about all I can say on it other than just recommend that we move along yet again. We have a lot of spring sports to focus on at the moment. Let’s all get behind them. Go Dawgs!
Thanks,
Greg
P.S. We’ll be releasing information soon about how you can set up direct deposit from your place of employment into your Georgia Bulldog Club account. So look for this exciting opportunity in the near future!
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That’s an interesting take I’ve never thought about…where is the reserve fund invested, and who is managing it? C.O.I. perhaps?
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Ha, the birth of the “dawg bank and trust”
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There is a reason why UF is behind on facilities.
For this, we offer our gratitude.
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I like the positive attitude, but they’re still announcing while 40% short of funding.
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Assuming they are planning to get the rest of it from donors that brings the share paid by donors up to $70M. The AA will pay $60M. That’s enough philanthropy” if you ask me. What I would question – if I cared about UF which I don’t – is why don’t they have the cash and have to issue bonds? It’s not as if all the athletics earnings go to academics – where did it go? I’m not even going to look it up. I will guess debt service. Borrowing is cheap, especially when you can offer tax-exempt bonds. Because of course athletics is a philanthropy (wink, nod).
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