Thanks everyone for coming out. Um, just want to start with kind of some general comments about where we are, uh, entering, believe it or not, our 7th football season. As the AD and uh we got here and I think the big focus that we wanted to have when we arrived in Raleigh was what can we do to be the best NC state we can be. I, I think the comparisons kind of the thief of joy in what you do and you can worry about everything else and what, what if we really focused on being the best NC state that we can be and what does that mean? Someone’s phone was ringing, OK, um, you know, what, what does that mean to us? Uh, how do we, uh, how do we compete, right? So in the last 5 years we’ve won more ACC championships. Than any other school in the ACC, what are we doing academically right for our students? We have the highest graduation rate, highest APR, uh, that we’ve had in the history of the program right now. What are we doing with our students from a standpoint of social interaction and what are they doing in the community and I think there’s so many great stories about our students going into the community and serving the community of Raleigh and and being a part of it. Um, in the new landscape of everything that’s going on, what are we gonna do to be competitive? We’re gonna go all in. We are all in with regards to the $20.5 million in scholarships and everything. Um, I think it’s important for our fans to know that we’ve known it. I haven’t seen this as, um. A point of reference of we’re gonna do this with football and this with basketball and this with all of our other sports, but our coaches have known since October that we were all in on what we’re gonna do. Um, we look forward to the, to the upcoming season. Uh, additionally, we have a new chancellor. And, uh, Chancellor Howe, we look forward to working with him. As well as we move forward, we had a great one in Chancellor Woodson, uh, for our 1st 5.5 years, 6 years, whatever the number was, and uh we look forward to working with Chancellor Hell moving forward. So with that, I will take questions. That’s Annabel says. But when you say you’re going all in, obviously that’s you’re talking about everything that’s taken place over the summer, but how much does that kind of affect the way that you operate in the way that this actual administration operates given the fact that now the money portion of the money at least is coming from the school. Yeah. Um, it, it affects everything, but you know, we could see it, you, you, you see it coming with the house case, right? You, you believe it’s gonna settle when you’re talking to. Uh, attorneys at the ACC, attorneys on campus, everyone to get an idea of where we are right within the process, so you need to start making plans. I think as it got closer and closer, uh, quite frankly, the scarier part was what if it doesn’t settle and, and what do we do and how do we go about moving forward. But, um, you know, the Wolfpack Club has been great, you know, you look at the opportunity to host concerts. At Carter Finley, you look at the naming rights opportunity, you look at what we’ve done uh with what we call pack forward, right, which affected um Donations and parking and tickets and the one thing we didn’t really want to do was look at this whole thing and say, you know what, we’re going to raise our tickets 30%. We’re going to put all this on the back of our hands. We owe as an administration everything that we can think of for the ability to raise as much money as we can to try to spread this out as far as we can. Thanks for doing this, Boo. I appreciate it. Um, when, when you talk about all in for the 20.5 million, can you give us any sense of what sports are going to get that direct revenue share and, and how many scholarships you added and how much that takes away from the 20.5 million? It’s gonna be part of it. I don’t know the specific numbers, to, to be honest with you, but they’ll be, um. My guesstimate would be close to $2 million in new scholarships as we’re looking at that spread across all of our sports, um, you know, obviously everything is a deduction, right? You got the 20.5% and then up to $2.5 million in scholarships is deducted as well as 2.5% max on Austin money. Uh, what we did with our sports was we gave them a number, right? And, and as opposed to your. Baseball and baseball gets 10 or 11.7 scholarships. Instead of doing that, we went and said, here’s a number. If you want to do that in 25 scholarships, you can do it in 25 scholarships. If you want to do it in scholarships plus Austin and lower the number of scholarships, you can do it that way. Ultimately, what we trust our coaches. We want our coaches to have skin in the game of what we’re doing, so we provide a maximum flexibility for our coaches by giving them a number and then allowing them to plug the numbers they wanted to. I do, um, So according to the EADA report, obviously men’s basketball and football, um, bring in the lion’s share of the revenue for, for the athletic department in terms of, um, you know, individual sport breakdowns. Obviously you want to continue funding those heavily. How do you kind of balance ensuring, you know, those are the top of their game, um, have all the resources that they need and provide equity for some of those other Olympic sports? Sure. We’re very honest with our coaches. I mean, all of our coaches, and if you talk to any of them, they understand the importance of football and specifically men’s basketball, right? Women’s basketball does generate revenue, um, gymnastics, volleyball, um, uh, wrestling, and a number of other sports as well, but the, the best thing that we can do is be really good in football and basketball. So it’s a very frank conversation. With our coaches and as we look at that again as we look at it 550 student athletes, that number over time will go down right as we get to the roster limits that the total number of athletes will go down over time, but we care about everyone’s experience as they come through, whether you’re a women’s tennis player, volleyball, cross country, uh, wrestling, we want you to have the best experience you can have. As you’re here and what does that mean for us? It meant giving them a number and them filling out the team the way they want to use um wrestling as an example. If Pop believes that the best way to do it is to recruit 5 different weight classes, right, and be great in those 5 weight classes, and that’s what’s gonna make us competitive nationally. That’s his option. He didn’t take that option, right? You, you know what I’m saying, and he spread it out amongst the team, but, you know, again, we want to give them maximum flexibility. Hey Booal Walter from WREL, thanks again for doing this. Um, where do you see this all kind of ending now that we, we have Revha? Um, I, I feel like I need a law degree, but like, you know, people talk about players becoming employees with the CBA or there being some sort of like antitrust exemptions, so there could be some sort of cap without that happening. Where do you kind of see the the end game? Um. If you would have said uh 5 years ago, we would end up where we are today. No one would have believed it, right? So the idea of of forecasting where we’re going to be in 5 years, I think is a challenge. Um, the idea from a federal standpoint of all the states being equal, I think is really important to us. Uh, the antitrust exemption is important to us. Uh, the employee piece, um, I don’t know if the students want it or not. I mean, you hear all kinds of different information. Right of students wanting it to be an employee, not wanting to be an employee, uh, is collective bargaining probably the best way to get there? Over time, yes, but you need to figure out the employment piece before you can move into the collective bargaining piece. So, uh, where does it end? I know the one thing that we talk a lot about, uh, in the athletic department is being patient. Because you’re not really sure what’s gonna come out in 2 weeks or 3 weeks that’s gonna change the dynamic that that you’re working under. So ours is taking a really patient approach to what’s going on as opposed to making an immediate decision that you have to change. We’d rather be patient with it, thoughtful with it, and then come out with the right decision. Right. Thank you. How influential is One PAC been since NIL started and how important will they be going forward in this revenue sharing here? Um, they’ve been, they’ve been great. They, they really have been. Um, One PAC has really stepped up, um. Not only from the, the more significant donors, but as well, um, from the subscription model that that they’ve laid out, uh, I think it’s a good example of being patient run, right? Because there was a time. 68 months ago that everyone was like, right, we’re going to shutter all of our collectives, right? And that was kind of the general thought that people were going to have and we didn’t and we talked to them to try to figure out where it is. Is there a place for one pack moving forward? Absolutely there is. And and what does that look like? I think that’s part of the great unknown, you know, with NILO in and trying to figure out what deals will get through, how do they get through. There’s been a new ruling, um. Or a new opinion as it comes to collectives that still needs to be vetted out and what do those deals look like, what is, what is fair market value and how does that work? But one certainly has a place in uh NC State athletics moving forward. Hey Todd Gibson, CBS 17, can NC State realistically compete with the Oregons, the Texases, the Ohio states of the world? Yeah, I mean, you know, talk to one of our coaches and say, you know, it’s, it’s nice that you’re out here competing, but, you know, everyone’s here to win, and we want to be competitive on a national level. I think we’ve shown that in a number of our sports. Uh, a couple of years ago, we had a pretty good run in basketball. Right, you have 2 teams in the Final Four. The baseball team is in the College World Series, you know, going to bowl games every year. You know, it’s our job as an administration to do everything we can to put them into a situation where we can be competitive, you know, get out on the field. You know Dave’s done a great job with his staff and, and the staff that he has brought in good job in the portal, good job of developing young people. Um, as they come in and we’ll take our chances, we’ll go out there and compete. Every university has concerns about federal funding and changes um with the current administration when it comes to NC State, you know how much of that leads over into athletics and you know are there concerns about. How much we’re we’re funneling into athletics and you know, in terms of um. Some people are concerned about, you know, should we put this money in another pot. Sure, sure, um, I’m a proud member of Chancellor House cabinet, right? And I’m in there with all the other vice chancellors. Uh, I have never wanted athletics to be over the hill through the woods and, in some separate entity on the on. At NC State’s campus, right? So we’re, we’re in those meetings in those discussions, um. Bleeding with, feeling for the other people on campus because it’s, you know, specifically around the research dollars, you know that that’s a big part of it. Um, not having a hospital, NIH is a little bit different here than it is at other campuses that do have a hospital, but you know, we’re feeling that. Um, as a campus, and we want to be a good campus partner every way we can be, so that’s why the importance of everything we can do to find our own revenue, everything we can do, uh, to be a good steward of our resources and make sure that we’re holding up our end of the bargain. Thanks. Um, a quick one on, have, have you made any progress on the, the naming rights for the stadium at this point? We have, um, there’s a lot of interest in it, right? I was really, really hopeful that we would be able to have something this year, um, at this point, you know, what are we? 3 weeks away. I don’t think that’s gonna happen at, at this point, but, um, there has been a great deal of interest. Uh, in it, and we’ve been, uh, meeting with them on a regular basis and making sure that we’re going through all of our lists and contacts and, you know, the good thing for us is that Raleigh’s such a vibrant community, right from, from a corporate standpoint, and people are moving in, uh, selfishly, uh, believe that a lot of these companies are coming here because of our graduates, right? And they want NC State people working there, right? So I, I, I think there’s gonna be a great opportunity out there for us. We just haven’t founded it yet. Who a couple months ago, last time we got to talk to you was right after you hired Will Wade. Just your thoughts on that he hasn’t been able to coach again to this point, but just your thoughts on not only the team he’s been able to put together, but also the resources that were put behind that and the fan support now at this point. Yeah, he’s undefeated, right? I mean, that’s awesome being undefeated, but, um, you know, I think I said it yesterday or two days ago at the Centennial Authority meeting we sold. Um, over 1600 new season tickets and we’re excited about that. We’re excited about the, uh, the young men that he’s brought into the program as well as as he’s built out his staff and, you know, uh, Coach Wade does a really good job, uh, knows who he is, knows what he wants, uh, has a staff around him that has been around him, that they have their motto of what they do and how they do it and. Uh, I’m really excited about it. uh, the, the search was, um, Very intense inside. Hopefully our fans didn’t feel a lot of that, right? I mean our goal as an administration is to go out and hire a coach, you know, and hopefully they feel that we handled it, you know, professionally, um, did it the right way, found the person that we believe is the right leader for us, and we’re all going to move forward together. Uh Um, but we, uh, got the Clemson FSCU settlement and the ACC so things are kind of stabilized for now, but it seems like around 2030, Domino’s could start to fall again. So what are you guys doing now to kind of prepare for that moment? I guess I’ll just ask. Directly, have you explored or look into moving conferences to the SEC or Big 10? I mean, the, the best thing we can do again, go back to where I started, is be the best NC State we can be, right? I mean, selling 30,000 plus season tickets for. 25, 30 years in a row, right? Go to Reynolds Coliseum and women’s basketball sold out. Going over to the Lenovo Center moving forward and seeing fans, you know, uh, competing at a really high level, right, showing the support that we have, uh, does that lead to better TV windows? Yes, it does, right? And, and I think the best thing we can do really is focus on who we are. We’re a proud member of the ACC, um, love being in the ACC, uh, I believe it’s a, uh, highly competitive. Conference on a national level with great teams and you know, we, we win football games, we go to the CFA, right? You win basketball games, you go to the NCA tournament and see, see how it works out from there. So, again, our focus, are we, um. What’s the old line? My old boss Kevin White surveying the landscape. Of course we are, right? But I, I think it all comes back to being the best NC state we can be. Yeah. That’s sort of surreal I guess it’s 6 or 7 years at NC State now. It’s time’s flying. Uh, I think my best memory of you is in Dallas when they showed the women’s team winning the game. I think you got up and started bouncing around and giving high fives down the aisle. Um, you talk about NC State being the best NC State. What is it about how do you be the best boo Corrigan you could be when you see kids succeed, graduate, do things like that, when, how does that spur you? Uh, fair, fair question, um. Just come in and work hard every day, you know, I mean that that’s really what it’s about being, being as consistent as you can be, particularly during these times where it’s easy to get up and down and you know, what about this and what about this? There’s so many different variables that are changing all the time, um, from a leadership standpoint, I think it, it calls for calm. Right, and, and finding those moments, right? Uh, when I go home and, uh, my wife and I are sitting there, we get pretty damn fired up. I’ll be honest with you, you, you know what I’m saying about everything that’s going on, but those are more private moments in, in the, in the public moment, you just are so happy for the young people, right? And so happy for the coaches that have worked so hard and the trainers and and to see. The excitement whether it’s a manager or assistant coach or strength and conditioning or a trainer in that moment, um, to see the young people be the best version of themselves, right to to go to a level beyond what they thought they could maybe go to and just enjoy that moment and then. The, the other part is just uh our incredible fan base and to see the excitement, right? You win um. You win the ACC tournament in DC a couple of years ago, and I don’t know who, who was there out of this group, but there were a lot of people crying. Right, and, and not quite sure what was going on and, you know, standing with our sons and daughters who are now 25 years old who hadn’t experienced anything like that and just seeing the joy that they have and the connection they have to this great university. I think that’s those are the moments that I enjoy the most. Merv and then can you hand it to Kate? Sure, um, we talked about the ACC. How do you feel about the settlement, um, as in particular the viewer distribution? Do you think the ACC needs to do more to generate more revenue for, for its programs? And then related to that, your game against Notre Dame, which probably was gonna be your highest rated game of the season. Got moved to Peacock, which is gonna have a direct financial impact now on what you get from that viewership distribution that obviously out of your control, but it seems like things out of your control may impact how much you make. Yeah, you would think as a nerd and grad, maybe it’d do a little bit better for you, uh, you know, when you go back out there to play, but yeah, it, it goes back to being as good as you can be, right? The better you are, the better the slot, the better the ratings, um, you know, I think it’s a creative answer. Right, to, uh, to, to where we are, I think you look at a lot of conferences around the country. They are, they do have a couple of 345 schools that are that are driving, uh, the majority of the ratings. um, I think, uh, Commissioner Phillips took a big step forward by trying to create uh a creative answer to something, you know, it’s in, it’s in our wheelhouse we have the opportunity to do that, um. To get better slots, right? The, the, the beauty of football. I don’t know that we all love this, but you know, the, the 10 day window, the 6 day window, and all of those things, I think it’d be better a lot of times if we could say right now what time every game is and be able to do that, but, you know, uh, there, there is that opportunity to get to the big show, right? To, to get to the. Uh, to get to the ABC, to get to the ESPN, to get to the primetime game, and, and those opportunities. So again, um, a lot of it’s in front of us, and what opportunities do we have? We’ve got a Thursday night game, we’ve got a Friday night game, so, uh, there are some windows there for us to really take advantage of it. But I believe it was at this time last year, the same exact setup, you revealed the highs and lows of your journey being on the CFP committee. Now that you’re a whole year removed from it, you got to kind of enjoy last season as a fan and true athletic director. How did that experience maybe change your perspective on how valuable football is in terms of revenue sharing and money and success, but also as a fan of college football, and it’s all this changed? Like what was it like just kind of being able to be present last year? Um, it was great. I was sitting with, uh, with my wife. Before the first show came on and I turned and looked at her and said, I’m really nervous right now. So it was a little bit of PTSD as as as Ward got up there and Ward did a great job, um, as the chair but you know college football is just great. I was, uh, trading texts with some um some uh media members yesterday like it’s around the corner, isn’t this great? You know, it’s coming and and there’s nothing like college football. Uh, when it starts in the pageantry and what it means to people and the opportunity, you know, to come back right to your university and celebrate the university, right, so that’s kind of the baseline and then just to see the competition and be a part of it, but uh it was a great honor to be on the CFP. It was a great honor to be the chair of that and I feel glad that I’m not. On the committee anymore and I’m not the chair anymore, but it’s something I’ll look back as, as it gets further away, I’ll look back upon it more fondly. OK, last question, Jessie? Jesse McWilliam with Spectrum News One again, thank you for the time. Um, we talked a lot about football. I know with the season right around the corner. I know this program has had, you know, it’s ups and downs over the last couple of years. So I mean, what does a successful season look like you guys like a benchmark as the number of wins or anything like that, but just overall, what is a successful season on the football field? It’s really hard to go into any season and think anything other than you’re going to win them all, right? I mean, that’s the attitude you have to have. When you go into something like this, uh, really encouraged by the leadership on the team and, in my opinion, the best teams have the best leaders on the field, right? And I think that’s something that Coach Doran is really focused on. This year and and it becomes more and more important as more people come into your program every year, right? So 5 years ago, 6 years ago, you’d bring in 21, 22, 23 freshmen, some of them with red shirt, right? Maybe you’d have one or two transfers. Now it’s. 35, 40 new people every year, and it’s not, um, it’s not just you, it’s everyone that you’re competing with, uh, at which point I believe leadership matters even more. And what are we doing to train our leaders, right? It’s one thing to say you’re a leader, but that’s a lot, you know, that, that’s, that’s uh uh. It’s a blessing to be a leader, right? But it doesn’t mean you know how to be a leader. And I think Coach Doran has done a really good job developing leaders, uh, on this team, but everything’s in front of us right now, you know, let’s go out there, let’s strap it up, and let’s play games. All right, Jane’s gonna do our last one, we can eat. I’m not responsible for the food. It’s a little bit fancy. I just wanted to know you mentioned the 1600 additional season tickets. What, what was the approximate number last year? No. Of new season to season tickets for men’s basketball, we’ll look we, yeah, we’ll get, we’ll get that to you. We’ll get that to you. Is there anything that has to be asked? I good? All right, thank you very much. Thank you.