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USF board to vote on $340 million football stadium plan
Tuesday’s vote will put the school one step closer to an on-campus football stadium. Kellie Cowan reports.
On Tuesday, the University of South Florida’s Board of Trustees gave its final approval to a $340 million stadium plan that will bring football games to campus for the first time.
In May, the board’s finance committee approved a plan to fund the 35,000-seat stadium with a 20-year, fixed-rate $200 million loan. The school will contribute the remaining $140 million from university funds.
Leadership believes the 5-tier stadium will drive game day attendance and create new revenue streams they’re unable to tap into with their current arrangement at Raymond James Stadium.
"Our deal with the stadium currently, as you know, does not provide us concessions, does not provide us parking revenue, limited sponsorship revenue, and certainly no naming rights or premium revenue, so these are all the revenue sources we are eager to have in the new facility," USF VP and Director of
Athletics Michael Kelly explained during a finance committee meeting on May 23.
Rendering of USF Stadium.
Kelly says the stadium will be a recruiting advantage, which will lead to better on-field performance.
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"We’ve got to put a winning team on the field and honestly, I think this is going to improve those odds for us to do that," said Kelly.
USF leadership is also betting on a boost to the university’s overall profile by appealing to prospective students who are looking for the traditional college experience with fall football right on campus.
Rendering of USF Stadium.
The new stadium will be built on the site of the current Sycamore Recreational Fields. To make way for the new home of Bulls football and women’s lacrosse, intramural softball fields, a nature trail, and other outdoor spaces will need to move. A plan to relocate the recreation fields to a temporary location is in the works.
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Deconstruction of the Sycamore fields could begin this summer, and groundbreaking for the new stadium is slated for this fall. USF hopes to have the Bulls play their first on-campus game in the 2026 season.