Swamp makeover: Florida announces plans for a $1.45B renovation to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
The University of Florida is planning the most expensive and potentially most comprehensive stadium renovation in college football history, a $1.45 billion overhaul of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The University of Florida is planning the most expensive — and potentially most comprehensive — stadium renovation in college football history, a $1.45 billion overhaul of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium that school officials believe will nearly double annual revenue from their “$75 million ATM machine.”
The Gators unveiled renderings and details of the burgeoning project at a board of trustees meeting Thursday, providing the total budget (up from $400 million) as well as a start date (2027 offseason) and a completion date (2030 offseason). The board said the transformation will “breathe new life into one of the nation’s most iconic college football venues and elevate it into the premier collegiate athletic destination that sets the standard for everyone else.”
“Every inch of this stadium is going to be affected,” athletic director Scott Stricklin added.
Florida started looking at ways to upgrade "the Swamp” in 2018. The process was delayed by COVID-19 and ended up morphing into a “50-year solution” instead of a “short-term fix,” Stricklin said.
Florida generates $75 million a year from the nearly 100-year-old stadium from tickets, concessions, parking and contributions. Stricklin called it “a $75 million ATM machine” and the athletic department’s “most important asset.”
The remodel is expected to provide “a $65 million lift annually,” bringing total revenue from the venue to $140 million at a time when every dollar matters as the Gators look to better compete in 21 sports.
The venture is expected to be funded through a combination of private donations, capital reserves and long-term debt approved by the Florida Board of Governors.
The undertaking will revamp 82 current suites, add 63 more atop the east side of the stadium, create additional premium seating areas and install state-of-the-art video boards and audio capabilities. It includes $500 million in deferred maintenance costs, infrastructure improvements and wider aisles and handrails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Capacity, however, will remain at 88,548 despite losing thousands of seats in the lower bowl. New suites will make up the difference, and all of those premium areas — current ones are behind glass — will be open air.
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“I don’t think holistically it will change at all,” Stricklin said. “Our tagline for this is going to be, ‘Bigger, Better, Louder.’ More structure is going to hold in more sound. This is going to be a louder environment.”
Florida annually ranks as one of college football’s toughest places to play. And the Gators vowed to keep intact as much of what makes the Swamp unique: the orange wing walls and a bowl design that includes a below-ground-level playing surface.
Florida officials toured Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Lambeau Field to find a landing spot between preserving the past and modernizing for the future. The Swamp’s design ended up mostly resembling what took place at Lambeau in 2012-13, where the Green Bay Packers kept the lower bowl intact and built above it.
“It’s a big checklist of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Stricklin said. “I’m very excited because I think when people walk in it for the first time, they’re going to be blown away, and the money’s going to seem very well spent.”
Stricklin said recent projects even remotely close to Florida’s scope include Texas A&M’s $450 million overhaul to Kyle Field in 2013-14 and Penn State’s $750 million renovation to Beaver Stadium that’s expected to be completed in 2027.
“There are a lot of sponsorship areas that we’ve never really leveraged,” Stricklin said. "I think we can be really aggressive, and this will generate a lot of excitement, not only among fans but also among businesses that want to figure out how to be a part of it. We can leverage that to not only help pay for the stadium, but we can also leverage that for NIL opportunities.”
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