Back in 2009, spending on college sports stadiums nationally for the first time crested $1 billion. Give it about a year and Florida universities will be closing in on that figure just by themselves and just for football.
America’s thriving arms race for winning football teams, donor interest and conference media billions necessitates revenue-generating stadium re-dos — more premium seating and food options — and exclusive, football-only buildings for training, recruiting and relaxation.
A new metric maybe an accountant will love: Who’s making debt service on the money borrowed to build. Granted, it’s not as much fun as the Tomahawk Chop or Gator Chomp, but it will matter to donors, who are the ultimate go-to for paying off the football projects popping from the ground around Florida.
The biggest spend on the drawing board is at the University of Florida, which anticipates pouring $400 million into The Swamp as it renovates 88,548-seat Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Construction is scheduled to begin after the 2025 season. The university says it wants to keep the stadium’s existing capacity but expand food and beverage, upgrade video displays and the sound system and expand premium seating options at the nearly century-old stadium. The university says it will rely on an “aggressive fundraising campaign” to get the project going.
Just two years ago, UF completed an $85-million football-only training facility. Designed by HOK and built by Parrish- McCall, the 142,000-sq.-ft. building includes “plush recliners” for each player, cryotherapy and hydrotherapy, float tanks, a barber shop and game room along with an outdoor area with a pool and — said a publicity release — a “luxurious, spa-like environment.”
Gone are the days of a dank locker room in the concrete bowels of a stadium. The University of Miami plans a “best-in-class” seven-story, 172,000-sq.-ft. football-only facility designed by Arquitectonica and HOK. “A towering, visually stunning structure that will elevate the program and raise the bar for the student-athlete experience,” said a UM announcement. There will be a “recruiting corridor” on one floor with a 360-degree digital “experience” showcasing Hurricanes history. Other floors will offer players hydrotherapy, saltwater float tanks, red light therapy and a golf simulator. A 7,500-sq.-ft. rooftop terrace will deliver views of the Miami skyline. “Competing in the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics requires creative thinking and bold investments,” says UM Vice President/Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich. UM estimated the cost of the project at $100 million in planning documents submitted to the city of Coral Gables in 2022. It hasn’t updated the price tag since then.
Meanwhile, the University of Central Florida’s new football administration and coach- es building comes as part of its “Hagle Football Gateway,” a $60-million endeavor. The building component kicked off with a $5.5-million pledge by Ethereum co-founder Taylor Gerring, a UCF alum who lives in Stuart. The building will be on UCF’s “one-of-a-kind” football campus “to help the football team succeed at the highest levels of competition and enhance the fan experience.” UCF also plans in December to begin an $88-million expansion of its on-campus FBC Mortgage Stadium to add 1,236 club seats, plus loge boxes and luxury suites, among other changes. Scheduled for completion in time for the 2026 season, it’s projected to bring in an additional $2.4 million in revenue a year and will be funded by Orange County’s tourism taxes.
The sports spending Florida is seeing follows national trends. Sports Business Journal reports an era of “unparalleled venue project spending, driven by construction costs and fan experience expectations” with facilities in the works for football, women’s sports venues, minor league baseball stadiums and even youth and amateur sports sites, some costing more than $25 million. In its annual review, Sports Business projects nearly $5.8 billion in construction at college and pro sport facilities in 2024, a 188% increase from 2023. It foresees more than $31.4 billion in projects slated to be completed from 2025 and after, the largest backlog since it began tracking in 1998. Penn State’s trustees this year approved a $700-million renovation of Beaver Stadium.
Florida universities say they can afford their plans. Many expect the stadium changes to boost revenue but also say they will rely on donors or naming rights or payouts from conference media rights deals.
Florida State University expects to finish its $138-million, 150,000-sq.-ft. Dunlap Football Center in summer 2025. The project added $116 million to FSU’s athletic debt total, which will grow by another $265 million as it renovates Doak Campbell Stadium. FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford says improvements were long needed for the sake of athletes, fans, recruiting and financial stability. “It’s more complex and nuanced than simply a matter of keeping up. It’s primarily about providing our fans, the general student body, the student-athletes and our alumni an environment they deserve,” Alford says.
FSU is removing 27,000 seats from Doak Campbell’s west side and replacing them with seating configurations including club seats, lounges, chairbacks and 28 exclusive suites with just two to six seats each. Net loss of west side seats: 11,000. A south end zone renovation will take out another 2,230 seats to make room for sofa seats, loge boxes and other amenities.
A consultant study predicts the seating and concession changes will bring $3.7 million more in annual revenue. Projections call for an 8.19% internal rate of return. “It’s not simply about revenue for the sake of revenue, but revenue is crucial for us to continue to compete and be relevant in the way the Florida State family expects,” Alford says. “What’s not been discussed enough about this entire project is that we are going to create possibilities for the venue to be utilized throughout the year in ways that, yes, create more revenue opportunities but, also, provide Tallahassee with opportunities to become a player in attracting events of regional, national, or even global relevance.” FSU expects the construction to be done by August 2025. FSU will fund the debt with conference revenue, annual Seminole Booster membership fees, sponsorships, advertising revenue, ticket sales and donations. FSU says its cash flow in relation to the debt coverage on the stadium project will be well above the 1.2x minimum required by state university system guidelines.
Two universities are moving to construct new on-campus stadiums at the opposite ends of the financial spectrum. The University of West Florida in Pensacola, which plays Division II football, plans a comparatively modest, $35-million project: Adding 7,500 seats around its existing gridiron to create the Darrell Gooden Stadium. The university will borrow $25 million internally and fund the rest with donations, says Jeffrey Djerlek, UWF’s associate vice president of finance. “We are very aware of who we are,” Djerlek says. He says the project won’t impact student pocketbooks, research or the education mission. Indeed, enrollment is up, the university is adding 87 faculty, and it has no outstanding debt, he says. The project kicked off with a $9-million donation from alum and Pensacola native Darrell Gooden and his wife, Debbie Gooden. The university expects revenue gains from leasing out the facility for camps and other events but isn’t relying on that revenue stream to pay off the debt. A separately financed, $35- to $40-million, 250-bed dorm will complement the project.
Meanwhile, the University of South Florida will break ground at homecoming in October on a $340-million, 35,000-seat, on-campus stadium. (Its football team currently plays at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.) Completion is scheduled in time for the 2027 season. Private, nonprofit Tampa General Hospital is donating $25 million for an adjoining athletics center with a player dining room, locker rooms, sports medicine, hydrotherapy and, for the larger USF and local community, behavioral health spaces.
USF “significantly increased” projected revenues by 287% to $20.5 million to improve the debt coverage ratio, J. Ben Watkins, the director of the state division of bond finance, which reviews such projects, wrote the state Board of Governors in September 2023. “Whatever conservatism was baked into the original assumptions has been eliminated and revenue projections/financial performance are fully dependent on realizing the consultants’ estimates,” he wrote. USF athletics, he noted in an August 2023 memo, ran at a loss two of the previous five years. Foundation support that ranged historically from $6.5 million to $19.7 million, now is projected to jump to $40 million to $50 million annually to pay the project’s debt, Watkins wrote.
He also noted that the project would draw on unreserved cash from non-athletic auxiliaries. Historically, auxiliaries were meant to be self-supporting and provided at cost to students, administration or faculty, not profit centers to support unrelated activities. “Universities should consider lowering fees for auxiliaries when they are generating substantial excess revenues instead of allowing the excess to build up to fund athletics,” he wrote. He told the state Board of Governors his division “would welcome the opportunity to discuss further amendments to (a state regulation) to ensure fees being charged to students are reasonable and not artificially inflating the cost of a university education for ancillary endeavors.”
Jay Stroman, USF senior vice president of advancement and alumni affairs, USF Foundation CEO and co-chair of the stadium planning committee, says the university’s financial model for the stadium project was drawn with the aid of national consultants and is sound. Unlike being at Raymond James, the university will get revenue from parking, naming rights and concessions. He says USF also expects the stadium to attract to campus some of its 385,000 living alums as well as people from the community. “We definitely want to be competitive,” Stroman says, but “it’s bigger than just athletics. It’s going to be state of the art. This is a transformative project for us, for the Tampa Bay region.”
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
— Renovation of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Estimated Cost: $400 million
Details: The revamp will include expanded food and beverage, upgraded video and sound systems and expanded premium seating options, as well as upgrades to restrooms and entry gates. Two years ago, UF unveiled its $85-million Heavener Football Training Center which includes a 50-foot plunge pool, steam room and pools with underwater treadmills. There’s also a hair salon, a gaming and golf center, a resort-style pool and other amenities open to all UF student athletes.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
— On-campus stadium
Estimated Cost: $340 million
Details: The 35,000-seat, on-campus stadium will be situated just north of the team’s practice facilities. The project will also include an operations center for USF football and women’s lacrosse. The school debuted an 88,000-sq.-ft., $22-million indoor performance facility in 2022 that features a 100-yard turf field, providing a comfortable, climate-controlled practice for varsity athletes to practice.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
— Albert J. and Judith A. Dunlap Football Center
Estimated Cost: $138 million
Details: The 150,000-sq.-ft. football operation headquarters will include offices for coaches and staff, a locker room, strength and conditioning space, “nutrition stations,” a recruiting suite and more, according to a project summary submitted to the Florida Board of Governors. The school is aiming for completion by July 2025. FSU also is underway on a $265-million renovation of its Doak Campbell Stadium that will add more premium seating options, new restrooms and concession areas and other amenities.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
— Football operations center
ESTIMATED COST: $100 million
DETAILS: The 172,000-sq.-ft. operations facility, scheduled for a 2025 completion, will include dedicated space for training and recovery as well as areas for academic services, recruiting and professional development. A 7,500-sq.-ft. rooftop terrace will provide horizon views of Coral Gables and downtown Miami, while a recruiting corridor on the second floor will feature an immersive digital showcase of Hurricanes football. Other elements will include a “Name, Image & Likeness suite,” a golf simulation area, team meeting rooms, coaching offices, a fitness center and recovery spa.
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
— Sharon & Marc Hagle Football Gateway
ESTIMATED COST: $60 million
DETAILS: “The Gateway” football project will feature a recovery and recreation area called McNamara Cove with a lazy river and hydrotherapy pools for student athletes and high-rolling tailgaters. Other elements will include upgraded football locker rooms in the Wayne Densch Sports Center, new offices for football staff and coaches, a pedestrian promenade, VIP parking and more. The school also is planning for an $88-million, 58,000-sq.-ft. expansion to its premium seating area in FBC Mortgage Stadium. In March, UCF Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir told UCF trustees that the expanded space will provide a venue for weddings, corporate outings and other events that will drive new revenue streams.
UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA
— Darrell Gooden Stadium
ESTIMATED COST: $35 million
DETAILS: The school aims to break ground on its new football stadium, which will add 7,500 seats around its existing PenAir Field, in 2026.
EVERBANK STADIUM
ESTIMATED COST: $1.4 billion
DETAILS: Improvements will include wider concourses, 16 new escalators, 190 new points of sale for food and beverage, and a dozen new restrooms. All told, the revamp will add 110,000 square feet of space for 1.82 million square feet overall.