Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden and Seminole Boosters, Inc. have reached a marketing and promotions agreement to raise money for FSU athletics. The multiyear deal will begin in January and calls for Bowden to make public appearances during the year to promote, market and raise funds for FSU in '14 and '15. Bowden granted Seminole Boosters the right to use his name and likeness under an exclusive licensing agreement. He will receive $250,000 per year and half of the net royalty income from licensing (FSU). WARCHANT.com's Gene Williams notes the agreement between Bowden and Seminole Boosters can be "renewed for a third year." The idea to bring Bowden "back to help with fund-raising came from" Seminole Boosters President & CEO Andy Miller (WARCHANT.com, 7/2). In West Palm Beach, Bob Ferrante notes Bowden started the booster tour at FSU "in the late 1970s." At the time it was "just a small tour that included a handful of North Florida cities and a handful of fans." It has grown into an event "with a few dozen stops around the state and in Georgia, with Bowden playing golf and stopping for pictures with thousands of alumni and boosters." Bowden was "agitated by his forced retirement in 2009 and distanced himself from the program," but he and FSU "began rebuilding their relationship." Bowden "excelled at building relationships in his years as coach, and he's being asked to do it once more." School execs and booster officials had been "working quietly for a while on the deal" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/3).
MARKET VALUE: In Tallahassee, Blackburn & Schoffel report FSU trustee Mark Hillis at a meeting in early June "wondered aloud whether Florida State would be willing to come up with enough money to lure a top-notch athletic director." FSU's athletic department has "struggled to cope with skyrocketing expenses in recent years," and former AD Randy Spetman was "making just $350,000 a year." That likely "made him the lowest-paid AD" in the ACC. FSU President Eric Barron said that he is "well aware how much upper-tier universities are paying the people who lead their athletic departments." Barron: "We have to pay attention to the market on coaches’ salaries, and we’re going to pay attention to the market on the AD’s salary." Blackburn & Schoffel note Duke AD Kevin White "tops the ACC list at slightly more than $900,000 per year, and he is followed Clemson’s Dan Radakovich at $725,000." Wake Forest’s Ron Wellman, Georgia Tech’s Mike Bobinski and Virginia Tech’s Jim Weaver "each make more than $600,000 annually." Future ACC member Louisville "pays its highly acclaimed" AD Tom Jurich $1.4M (TALLAHASSEE.com, 7/2).
