Georgia Southern Athletics: The Benko Briefing for February 2024

The Benko Briefing for February 2024 from Georgia Southern Director of Athletics, Jared Benko:

Dear Eagle Nation,

I hope this note finds you and your family well.

February is always a great time of the year for Georgia Southern Athletics, as most of our teams are in their respective competitive seasons. Our student-athletes continue to work exceptionally hard in and out of the classroom and appreciate your continued support, especially by attending their games. We have an exciting few months ahead, and I encourage you to check GSEagles.com (as well as follow us on our social media platforms) routinely for updated news and schedules.

Coach Helton and his staff have been relentless on the recruiting trail over the past several weeks and have secured an exceptional signing class. Over this same period, we have completed a deep dive into every facet of our football program and have identified several improvement areas. No stone has been left unturned, and we have been operating with a heightened sense of urgency to correct and/or implement as many improvements as possible.

The offseason conditioning program has gotten off to an exceptional start under the direction of new football head strength and conditioning coach, James Heiss. We are lifting more this winter, and with future investments in new wearable technology on the field and on the racks in the weight room, we will be better positioned to curtail and adjust our training regimes and recovery efforts to each individual. With a continued emphasis on nutrition, big gains will be made this offseason. I am excited to start spring practice in March and look forward to observing several position battles, particularly at quarterback, where significant attention has been directed this offseason.

I am happy to share that our football season tickets go on sale on Monday, Feb. 5! Having been a part of four football seasons here at Georgia Southern, I can unequivocally say that the environment in Paulson Stadium is the best in the Sun Belt. YOU make a huge difference by showing up each Saturday and cheering on our Eagles to victory!

Regarding season tickets, I have several pertinent updates to share. Non-premium seats are the same price as last year. This type of seating comprises 48 percent of our season ticket distribution, and we are pleased not to increase pricing in these sections.

Premium seats and parking are increasing in price this year. We always try to be extremely thoughtful and transparent in our ticket pricing; messaging these increases is no different. Below is an outline of how we came to this decision:

• Our cost of business continues to increase drastically – particularly in travel and operation-related costs. While we have instituted several mitigation strategies, uncontrollable expenses continue to rise as we strive to provide an elite student-athlete experience.
• Recoup dollars to help offset recent capital expenditure investments:
  • $15M – Anthony P. Tippins Family Training Facility
  • $5.5M – parking lot renovations ($2.5M at Paulson Stadium and $3M at Lot 29)
  • $1.5M – investment in a new video board, ribbon board and sound system
• We are significantly underpriced in several premium areas, particularly when comparing our ticket pricing to peer schools in the Sun Belt Conference. A comprehensive analysis of ticket pricing was conducted this fall and further corroborated that we have historically significantly undervalued our football-related assets.
• Fan experience (ROI) continues to improve every year. We want to continue investing in this area, as our goal is to raise the bar every year.
• We have the best home schedule in program history, kicking off with Boise State on Aug. 31. Sun Belt opponents App State, James Madison, Marshall and Troy all come to Statesboro this upcoming fall! All five of those teams played in a bowl game last year, and two won conference titles.
• We have lengthy waiting lists in several premium areas, and the current demands of our premium sections outpace our supply.

One central theme woven through the bullet points above is this: we work tirelessly every day to match resources with expectations. With your generous support, we have grown our budget from $29.1M to $35.5M (22%) over the past four fiscal years; however, we are still in the bottom half of the Sun Belt Conference. For additional reference, there were two (2) schools with budgets north of $50M, followed by two other institutions north of $45M in the 2022 reporting to the NCAA.

While we have made progress that we are all very proud of, we still have a lot of ground to cover to reduce the resource gap in the top half of the Sun Belt. TOGETHER, we can continue to work collaboratively to further enrich our history of competitive excellence across our 17 sponsored sports. I am very proud of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, and I know that our best days are ahead. Please continue to join us on our exciting journey by renewing (and purchasing new seats) for the 2024 football season!

Hail Southern! GATA!

Jared Benko

Georgia Southern Director of Athletics

Georgia Southern Athletics / gseagles.com