Sh*t, the hate flows strong with you, and I dig that.
The thing that really baffles me is where did the money go? As you point out, it wasn't long ago they were bragging about having so much money and how poor we were. We know what changed for us, but what changed for them? Same for fsu, why are you guys so poor all of a sudden?
I'm about to say something pretty unfortunate, and I wish it wasn't true, based on my great desire for an on-campus stadium...
...but those on-campus stadiums ain't cheap...
And for the last couple of years, the COVID restrictions cut into Athletic revenue, while the expenses for facilities stayed the same. That's why you see F$U trying to steal sales tax money from Leon County to pay for urinals inside of Doak.
The situations are a bit different, and F$U is in a FAAAR worse position. First, F$U doesn't have an alum base with nearly as much money as the Gaytor alum base. And if you go back a few years, the issues that Jimbo had with the boosters involved not just money (they weren't raising enough) but also control and spending priorities. Yes, the F$U booster club was trying to reorganize itself for the future, but they really got started just before COVID. Womp-womp...
Another big difference is that Doak is an absolute ****hole of a stadium with its infrastructure, notwithstanding the brick facade. That's why they need so much money to fix up the dump, without actually adding seating capacity, because the insides of Doak were never torn down and rebuilt in a modern fashion.
So for F$U, they've never really had big revenue or boosters, they have a very costly stadium without very many amenities (another part of what they want to spend Leon County tax money on), and they were particularly hard-hit by COVID limitations and game cancellations.
On the other hand, the Gaytors have usually run a profit within their Athletic Department, contributing money BACK TO the University. Of course, that has its own complications, as they may have been better-served by diverting that money to future capital expenditures. But at least the Gaytor alums are wealthier and have a better history of making contributions to the booster club. The Gaytors have also made a ton of money as an SEC member, plus they get a nice bump from the Florida-Georgia game being held in Jax every year. And while they also have a lot of upkeep with Florida Field, that stadium has been far-better-maintained over the past several decades, including a very nice north end zone section.
Yes, the hate flows strong with me. I hate both the Gaytors and the SemenHoles. But I also pay attention to them and figure out what they do right and wrong. That's why I know that both UiF and F$U are struggling to get the whole "NIL thing" going. Because they've had a lot of heavy "asks" in fund-raising over the past few years. F$U with coaching buyouts and payouts. UiF with some (belated) capital improvements that they are just finishing up. So to go back to the alums AGAIN just for legal payola is...a stretch.
As I've mentioned before, John Ruiz isn't our only big-money donor. But it becomes a lot easier to get him to arrange NIL money when we haven't been hitting him up for cash for the past decade.