Tag: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Florida Gators athletic director reveals details for stadium renovations

Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin appeared on WRUF/ESPN Gainesville to detail the renovations of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

The Swamp… where only Gators get out alive.

An iconic structure in the college football universe, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is being set to undergo a large renovation following the 2024 football season, and there’s a lot of negative opinions stemming from the Florida faithful because its reported the project may reduce the total capacity of the stadium.

The Florida Gators always carry a significant advantage while playing at home with a 88,548 capacity, so rumors of reducing the number immediately sparked an uproar among Florida die-hards.

UF athletic director Scott Stricklin made an appearance on Sportscene, a WRUF/ESPN Gainesville radio program to clear the air and shed more light on what Striklin and the UAA are planning.

“At one point I think we might have mentioned that we might have to reduce capacity. That is not the goal,” Stricklin said. “The goal is to be in a situation where we can have the same number of Gator fans that have been coming the last 30 years to continue to come. In a perfect world, we don’t impact capacity negatively and we’re able to be at the same number.”

Stricklin also stated that he sees the project as more of a “restoration” and that is why he hired Crawford Architects, a company that oversaw the update of the historic baseball stadium Fenway Park in Boston. The athletic director wants to keep the iconic structure intact, but improve the overall quality.

“The wing walls, the proximity of the fans to the field,” Stricklin said. “Not putting a bunch of chairbacks everywhere just because that does take away from what makes it unique. We’re going to be very careful whatever we do. We don’t know exactly what that is.”

“We’ll start in the next eight to twelve months and come up with an idea that we can take to Gator Nation and say, this is the vision,” Stricklin continued. “That’s going to be significant because obviously, it’s the most important facility we have.”

Only time will tell what happens to the beloved stadium, but Florida fans are rightfully anxious to see what results will show from the project. The important part is Stricklin is listening to the fans and understands the concern for arguably the most important building on campus.

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Gators take next step in stadium restoration process

Six months after announcing plans to renovate Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the University of Florida athletic department has landed on an architecture firm to run the project.

In July, the University of Florida announced plans to restore parts of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

After six months of advertising and negotiating, the Florida athletic program has selected Crawford Architects, in association with Gensler  — a global architecture, design, and planning firm — to “formally begin developing renovation, construction and phasing options for The Swamp.”

Initial estimates price the renovation project around $400 million. An aggressive fundraising campaign will take place to raise most of the funds needed to complete the project. Concourses, entry gates, seating, concessions areas and restrooms will all be upgraded, as well as additional enhancements to the video boards and sound system, according to the release.

“We are looking forward to working alongside the design team on this historic venture,” said UF Athletics Director Scott Stricklin. “The coming months will provide specifics on what improvements fans can look forward to, along with details on timeline and costs for the project.”

Crawford Architects owner David Murphy said his team was honored by the opportunity and called The Swamp “one of, if not the most iconic stadiums in football.”

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Jaguars want to find stadium plan that forces team out for just 1 year

Jaguars president Mark Lamping says the team is trying to see if there’s a way to play one year elsewhere during renovation instead of two.

Earlier this year, Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping laid out two potential options for the renovation of EverBank Stadium. The team could either play two years at another venue — like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville or Hodges Stadium at University of North Florida, perhaps — or four years at home during a lengthier and costlier construction project.

This week, he offered a third, more palatable option.

Lamping told reporters in London that the Jaguars are looking to “see if there’s anything we can do to maybe go from playing away for two years to just one year.”

“We don’t have that solved yet,” Lamping said, via John Oehser of Jaguars.com. “But we’re going to continue to do everything we possibly can to still get the stadium done on time and have it be the least disruptive as possible as far as our games in Jacksonville are concerned.”

The Jaguars have a lot of potential solutions for a temporary home, including even Daytona International Speedway, but there’s far from a perfect one. Gainesville and Daytona Beach are both more than an hour drive from Jacksonville. While Hodges Stadium is nearby, Lamping has said it’d cost “in excess of $100 million” to bring it up to NFL standards.

Playing away from EverBank Stadium for just one year, wherever that ends up being, would be a win for the Jaguars.

The first step, though, is reaching a deal with the City of Jacksonville on a renovation project in the first place. Any agreement with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan will also need approval from city council and then 75 percent of NFL owners.

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Florida AD Scott Stricklin talks stadium renovations

We know that renovations are coming for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but could Florida build a new stadium entirely?

Florida fans haven’t taken kindly to athletic director Scott Stricklin’s proposed plan to renovate Ben Hill Griffin Stadium because of a potential capacity reduction, but his latest comments on the topic float an idea that might be even more unpopular: moving the stadium site entirely.

When talking to WRUF on Monday, Stricklin mentioned that the university has discussed potential new locations for a brand-new stadium. The current plan is to upgrade the stadium to give it a more modern feel and open up more areas for fans, but Florida is exploring all of its options before hiring an architect for the project.

The good news for Florida fans is that Stricklin understands the emotional attachment the fan base has to the stadium. He admitted that Ben Hill Griffin has “something sacred” about it and that the relocation idea was unlikely.

“The multi-phase renovation to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is intended to accomplish numerous improvements to this historic venue,” he said. “The goal is to preserve the energy and history while upgrading systems and spaces to better serve the University of Florida community and offer a broader variety of game experiences.”

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium turns 100 in just seven years. The upcoming renovations will be the most significant in its history. An architect should be hired by next month, which is when rumored plans will (or won’t) turn into physical blueprints.

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Is the Swamp the toughest place to play in the SEC?

The Swamp is one of the most famous venues in college football and for good reason. An incredible record at home over the past 10 seasons has plenty to do with how loud the place can get.

When it comes to home-field advantages in the SEC, plenty of fans might jump to the conclusion that Alabama or Georgia has the toughest venues to play football in. While both those teams have been dominant, it’s actually South Carolina and Florida atop the list, according to Blake Toppenmeyer of USA TODAY Sports.

While most Gators fans are likely nodding their head in agreement, the LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M folks might be scratching theirs instead. The answers are in the numbers.

Toppenmeyer ranked the list in order of SEC home and road winning percentage difference since 2012. In other words, a team’s home winning percentage against the SEC minus its road winning percentage against the conference. The 2012 date comes from when SEC expanded to 14 teams.

Florida’s road winning percentage is a solid .520, but a home winning percentage of .700 is for a .180 difference.

“The Swamp is tough on opponents, and it features one of the SEC’s best traditions when Florida fans sing Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” before the start of the fourth quarter,” Toppmeyer wrote.

Florida might not be considered much of a threat to the top dogs of the SEC heading into the 2023 season — the final one before Oklahoma and Texas join to make it a 16-team conference — but the Gators will still enjoy a strong home-field advantage.

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Florida seeking architecture firm for historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium renovations

The University of Florida’s historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is in line to get a major facelift in the near future

The University of Florida’s historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is in line to get a major facelift in the near future. The Associated Press confirmed on Monday that the venue that houses the Swamp will receive an overhaul that is expected to cost at least $400 million and be a “multigeneration solution” for an aging and iconic stadium in the heart of Florida’s campus

To take on the task, the university announced plans to hire an architect for the design of its revamped Florida Field, the first public step in a process that has been on the back burner for years, opening a formal selection window in July.

Athletic director Scott Stricklin said it’s “premature to speculate” on the final cost, as well as other variables such as seating capacity and a specific timeline for the project. It was made clear, however, the main goal of the renovations will be to transform the game-day experience for fans while maintaining a lot of what helped the Gators create one of the most daunting home-field advantages in the Southeastern Conference.

“Whatever work we do there doesn’t need to be a Band-Aid,” Stricklin said at the league’s spring meetings last month. “It needs to be a multigenerational solution to continue to give that stadium for future generations a chance to come and watch the Gators there.

“It has to be everything from how fans experience when they’re outside the stadium, when they walk through the gate, concourse, concession, restrooms, inside the seating bowl, new premium options, better premium options. But you also want to keep what’s special about it.”

Florida Field first opened as a 22,000-seat facility in 1930 but has grown tremendously over the years. It has been expanded several times in nearly a century since, with capacity now at roughly 90,000, but it lacks many of the conveniences experienced in modern NFL venues. The latter point is important when it comes to possibly hosting in-state professional teams as a way to draw in more revenue.

Proposed upgrades are sure to include wider concourses, less bench seating, more concession options, larger video boards, a new sound system and improved lighting throughout. Capacity is expected to be reduced by thousands, however.

The upgrade will make the venue the most expensive facility renovation in the history of the school.

“It’s what kind of experience are you creating on game day? “Stricklin asked rhetorically. “What kind of memories are coming from those experiences? Do people want to plan their lives around coming back to enjoy that experience again? We sell tickets and we sell T-shirts. Beyond that, it’s we want to create experiences — and winning is a big part of that experience — but you’ve got to have all the other pieces.”

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Mark Lamping: Gainesville, Orlando more prepared for Jaguars than Daytona

Mark Lamping isn’t convinced Daytona International Speedway is the best candidate to be a temporary home for the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping will meet with Daytona International Speedway representatives on Friday to discuss the possibility of NASCAR’s premier racetrack potentially serving as a temporary home for the Jaguars in the future. He doesn’t sound convinced that much will come from the meeting, though.

In an appearance on 1010XL earlier this week, Lamping said Daytona isn’t the team’s top choice in the event that the Jaguars play games outside of Jacksonville during a renovation of TIAA Bank Field.

“One thing Daytona has going for it is that they’re used to big crowds,” Lamping said. “It’s pretty close. You just have to worry about going back and forth up I-95. So if you’re going to invest a bunch of money in a facility … they’ve hosted football there before.

“There will be some issues with that as it relates to infrastructure, so we’ll see how it goes. But again, that’s going to add cost to the project, so we’re going to have to figure out who pays that cost. The preference, if we are going to take games away from Jacksonville, we’ll look at all alternatives because you never know what you may discover, but as you sit here today, you’d have to say Gainesville and Orlando are more prepared to host NFL games right now than doing games at the speedway.”

The Jaguars are hoping to reach a deal with the City of Jacksonville on a massive renovation of their home stadium. While a four-year renovation of the stadium could allow the team to stay at TIAA Bank Field during construction, a two-year project would force the team to play elsewhere.

There are local venues in Jacksonville like Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida, but that facility would require a significant investment to be ready to host NFL games.

While the idea of the Jaguars playing games on the front stretch of NASCAR’s most iconic track is fun, it seems pretty low on the list of possibilities.

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Jaguars have talked to UF, UNF about relocating games for renovation

The Jaguars are, at the very least, preparing contingency plans in the case that they can’t use TIAA Bank Field during renovations.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have contacted the University of Florida and the University of North Florida to discuss the possibility of games being relocated from TIAA Bank Field during future stadium renovations, the schools each confirmed to the Florida Times-Union.

On Wednesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said in a radio interview that a two-year renovation of the Jaguars’ home stadium may happen during the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and that “the team will have to play somewhere else” during the project.

While the veracity of those claims by Curry have been called into question — especially when the Jaguars don’t even have a renovation proposal yet — the Times-Union’s report shows that the team is, at the very least, preparing contingency plans.

“The University of North Florida has had initial contact from the Jaguars, and we understand the team is exploring many options. No decisions from any side have been made, and we look forward to future discussions,” a UNF spokesperson told the Times-Union in a statement.

Similarly, Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said that the Jaguars “expressed interest in having future conversations about where they would play games during the renovation.”

UNF does not have a football team, but the school’s soccer teams and track and field teams play at Hodges Stadium, a 9,400-seat facility in Jacksonville.

The Gators’ Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is significantly larger with a capacity of 88,548. However, “The Swamp” in Gainesville, Fla. is a more than 70-mile drive from TIAA Bank Field.

On Thursday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office told Spectrum News 13 that the city’s venues staff hasn’t had any conversations with the Jaguars about the possibility of using Camping World Stadium.

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5 stadiums that could host Jaguars during TIAA Bank Field renovation

If the Jaguars are forced out of TIAA Bank Field for a couple years, where would they call their temporary home?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the lookout for a stadium that can be their temporary home in future seasons, according to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

In an interview with 1010XL on Wednesday, Curry said that renovations of TIAA Bank Field could happen in 2025 and 2026, and the Jaguars will likely need to find a temporary home elsewhere while the construction is ongoing.

While Curry said that the Jaguars hope to keep the games in Jacksonville, that plan doesn’t exactly seem feasible. No stadium in the city outside of TIAA Bank Field can even seat 10,000 fans for a football game.

So if the Jaguars really do need to find a temporary home two years from now, where could it be? Here are the five most logical options:

Florida planning significant upgrade to football stadium

The Gators have plans to upgrade Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ahead of the 2024 season and it’s going to cost a pretty penny.

The Florida Gators are planning to significantly upgrade Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, according to athletic director [autotag]Scott Stricklin[/autotag] who appeared on ESPN 98.1 WRUF’s “Sportscene” Monday.

While blueprints haven’t been finalized, Stricklin says the athletic department has a general idea for the kind of renovations it wants and the upgrade is going to be significant. Of course, bringing the Swamp further into the 21st century costs a pretty penny.

“That is going to be by far the most ambitious facility project not only the University of Florida has ever done from an athletic standpoint, but it might be the biggest in SEC history, maybe even as big as any nationally,” Stricklin said. “It’s going to be, my guess is to fully renovate the Swamp, you’re looking at a few hundred million dollars.”

Florida’s last major upgrade to the stadium came in 2003 when the press box was expanded and club-level seats and luxury boxes were added. That project cost $55 million, so Florida is planning on a much larger facelift this time around.

“Really what you want to do is you want to make sure Ben Hill Griffin Stadium extends its useful life for several generations. Not a 10- or 15-year fix but a 75-year fix.”

New video boards and aesthetics are just the beginning of what is planned. Structural renovations will ensure the venue is among the top in college football for years to come, and some more space could be opened for gameday use.

It’s an ambitious project, but Stricklin has already done well building a new home for Florida baseball (Condron Ballpark) and the new Heavener Training Center.

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