President Donald Trump Mentions FSU's Financials During College Sports Meeting

United States President Donald Trump gathered a group of 30-plus heavy hitters at the White House last Friday to discuss and debate the every changing world of college athletics. Commissioners from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC were all in attendance, along with owners, professional sports bigwigs, and politicians.

Among the vast array of topics was the amount of money that college programs are spending. Among Penn State and Rutgers, Florida State's descent into debt from renovations to Doak Campbell Stadium to a brand-new football-only facility has driven FSU $447M into the red.

Trump expressed concerns about schools pouring money solely into football, which he fears would abolish women's and Olympic Sports' funding, alongside the extreme amount of funds dedicated to Name Image and Likeness that has seemingly gotten out of hand.

Trump Points to Financial Strain Across College Athletics

First Lady Melania Trump, left, stands near U.S. President Donald Trump before of the College Football Playoff National Championship game in New Orleans Monday, January 13, 2020. Clemson Lsu Football Cfp National Championship New Orleans | Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

"It's grown into a major challenge that threatens the future of college sports and really colleges themselves because many are going to go, many are going to go down the tubes," Trump said. "It was announced that Penn State, their athletic division lost $535 million this last year. Florida State, Ron, and I spoke about it, $440 million loss. It was just announced that Ruters lost $95 million, and they're doing all sorts of things to try and save the ship."

With colleges across the country cutting funds to any sport that isn't football, Trump believes that, in the new state of revenue sharing and the need to pay to be competitive, football will soon become unaffordable, and that any college that can't pay for the top athletes and facilities will struggle to keep up.

"Football is going to be the worst laggard of all. It's not going to be affordable and it's going to take down practically every college. My opinion is going to take down virtually every college or every college that wants to think they want to be competitive."

Florida State Board of Trustees Defends Spending

Florida State University Board of Trustees member Peter Collins speaks during a meeting of the board to select the university's next president at the Turnbull Conference Center Monday, May 24, 2021. Fsu Board Of Trustees Presidential Pick Day 052421 Ts 117 | Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Florida State BoT chair Peter Collins defended the school's recent influx of debt, saying that the "strategic investments" made in recent years were bonded and that the improvements made to the stadium will pay for themselves in the future.

"Those facilities were bonded, and donors donated money for those," Collins said. "Yes, we have a lot more debt than we had a year ago, 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 raising, or getting, from the new football stadium is paying for those bonds... We have a revenue source, and it's paying those bonds. Yes, we have more debts, but we also have more assets."

Highlighting the growing tension facing college athletics is the need for programs to balance escalating costs with the need to remain competitive. While some leaders, including Trump, fear that the current trajectory could threaten the long-term sustainability of college sports. Schools such as Florida State maintain that their recent investments are necessary to keep pace in an increasingly expensive landscape.

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