BCSP X-26: BCSP Notes

BCSP Notes . . .

FAMU Update
According to stories in the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida A&M President Fred Gainous has taken the first steps towards severing the school's relationship with its television partner, Harlem-based Urban Broadcasting Company, and says he is no longer in favor of a move to Div. IA football right now.

Gainous scheduled a meeting with the entire athletic department for Wednesday (Feb. 4) morning at 8 a.m., the same day as National Signing Day for budding college football athletes.

The Democrat reported that Gainous sent a memo on Thursday of last week to the school's Board of Trustees indicating that UBC was unlikely to generate any revenue for the athletic department after broadcasting six Rattler football games this year. When the deal was signed with UBC in June of last year, FAMU interim Athletic Director, Dr. J.R.E. Lee III said the deal would bring a minimum of $1.5 million annually for the athletic department.

Gainous's memo says UBC has until March 1 of this year to make fourth quarter payments and to submit an accounting statement. "This pace is intended to conclude our relationship with UBC," Gainous reportedly says in the memo.

UBC signed a five-year deal to broadcast selected FAMU athletic events, including football and basketball games, but has not made any payments to the school and has also not paid the vendors who produced the games for the network.

The memo also reportedly says that Gainous is recommending a delay in the decision to move the Rattlers football program from NCAA Div. I-AA to Div. IA status. The school received permission from the NCAA to pursue the upgrade last summer but Gainous said a number of campus issues and academic programs need to be addressed before tackling the costs of a football upgrade.

The Mid Eastern Athletic Conference has given FAMU a March 15 deadline to return its football program to the conference or have all sports expelled by June 30.

One trustee member, Rev. J. B. Holmes, says he supports the idea of rescinding Lee's decision to pull out of the MEAC in all sports and has recommended that the school develop a 7- to 10-year master plan to upgrade facilities and get alumni support.

Lee, who has been quoted as saying he has had several discussions with conferences about FAMU's membership, has been under increasing criticism about the haste of his decision to seek an upgrade. He took over as interim AD in November of 2002 and announced five months later that the school would move to Div. IA in football.