The landscape of college athletics has rapidly changed with the introduction of serious financial resources. Football is arguably the sport that has been hit the hardest, and for many, the key to putting together a winning team in the new modern age is to spend.
In The Athletic's latest bit of reporting, a survey was conducted to gather information on just how much (approximately) each college football program needed to create the current roster. It is no secret that the most talented rosters on paper are also the most expensive, but the growing gap is certainly a cause for concern. With some programs like Florida State struggling to compete financially and on the field, catching up to the powerhouses like Miami could become impossible without serious changes.
Florida State has one of the biggest budgets in the ACC, but Miami still holds onto a massive financial advantage
Plenty was revealed in the survey, as programs like Boston College, Duke, Wake Forest, and Stanford were all revealed to have some of the least expensive rosters among power conference programs. Some of those programs have had successful runs as of late, while others appear to just be scratching the surface of how quickly a cheaper roster could impact results on the field.
Florida State is one of the only programs that has a rather large range, with some around the program stating the roster is worth close to $23 million, while others have the value of the roster closer to $30 million. Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma are all programs with similar ranges, but far more expensive rosters.
At $23 million, the Seminoles are roughly in the same territory as Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, and Georgia Tech. Miami, however, has an estimated value of $44 million, which trounces Florida State by a landslide. The concerning part is not necessarily the disparity between the two projected budgets, but rather the fact that current trends suggest the gap will only increase.
The price of a competitive roster has only increased as time has gone on, and at this current rate, without any changes, a roster budget topping $80 million could certainly appear in the next five years. Florida State could truly be left behind in the ACC without improving the current infrastructure, and programs like Miami will become virtually untouchable in comparison.
One of the bigger problems that comes with the surveyed range is the fact that Florida State is currently being outperformed by a number of programs with much smaller budgets. Florida State is spending less than other programs and finding worse results, as some outliers have been able to make the situation work. The Seminoles have proven that the reduced budget does not work for every program, and investing heavily into the program is needed now more than ever.
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