In today’s day and age of college football, the vast majority of funding seems to have shifted almost entirely towards the players and their NIL deals.
This wasn’t always the case, though, as there used to be a bigger emphasis on “the facilities arms race” among the superpowers of college football.
Before NIL, it was customary to direct a lot of your boosters’ funds toward new locker rooms, workout facilities and stadium renovations.
That is still happening, to an extent, but more and more fanbases and boosters are shifting into a player-focused system, and for good reason.
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You are far more likely to land a five-star high school kid with a well-funded NIL deal than you are with fancy facilities upgrades.
With all that being said, the University of Florida seems to still have plenty of money set aside in the banana stand, as they just approved a rumored $1.45 billion renovation project for their home venue, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Who says college athletic departments are running out of money?
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What’s a $50 million NIL budget when you can drop nearly $1.5 billion on a stadium?
Yes, I understand it isn’t all liquid and a lot of it is going to be paid through financing, long-term debt, project-generated revenues and so on, but my point still stands.
The rendering also looks pretty cool, too.
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The project is expected to be the most expensive stadium renovation in college football history by a fairly wide margin, and it’s easy to see why.
As a Florida fan, my feelings on this, as well as the feelings of other die-hard Gator fans, are a bit all over the place.
I love the way the stadium looks in the renderings, and having been to Ben Hill Griffin a number of times in my life, I can recognize some things need upgrading.
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But The Swamp is also one of the most iconic venues in college sports, so I sincerely hope these renovations don’t mess with the character of the stadium.
With these changes and the price tag, it could also come out of the pockets of fans in the form of raising ticket prices.
That’s just speculation on my part, but I would hate to see everyday fans priced out of a game at The Swamp.
And there’s also the issue of funding that I keep coming back to.
Obviously, the Gators aren’t hurting in the wallet when it comes to NIL, as their recruiting class sits comfortably in the top five on Rivals and 247Sports, and they were able to keep high-priced players like Jaden Baugh, Dallas Wilson and Jayden Woods out of the clutches of other well-funded teams like Texas and Miami.
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But would it hurt to go a little less heavy on the stadium upgrades and toss another $10 million a year into the NIL bucket?
Just asking.
Regardless, this project has been in the works for a long time, and I will be interested to see the finished product, which has a rumored completion date of 2030.
And if you ever need a business opportunity, start a construction company in an SEC college town. You’ll be able to put your great-grandkid’s great-grandkids through med school.
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