I’ve been saying for years on this board, in order for UF to be on a level playing field with UGA, Bama, LSU, and aTm, The Swamp needs at least a QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS in upgrades. Someone finally figured out TJtheGator wasn’t crazy after all. Florida planning one of most ambitious stadium upgrades in SEC history It will take some time. But it must be done. As much as I admire Jeremy Foley, his reluctance to accept a facilities arms race was inevatiable like Thanos set the football program back two decades.
I'm glad the swamp is getting an update. I wouldn't go too far in your praise of Bama's stadium. I was there this fall, 50 yard line primo seats and literally had to sit with my knees twisted 90° towards the end zone because there wasn't room. Concessions etc are pretty low rent as well. LED lights are nice.
Guess you never saw the Bryant Denny of the early 00s. Bama’s investment was in the end zone clubs and suites and in premium seating. They have more premium seating than anyone else in the SEC and that brings in the $$. 50-yard line bleachers are meh compared to suites. UF has a decent amount of club seats and suites. But Bama has a lot more. Now some of the big $ that needs to be spent is in full renovations to the East Stands and South EZ concourses. Ditch the trough urinals and the 1960s Yon Hall facade. Who gives a crap if some alumni have nostalgia, that ain’t winning us a championship. Need top notch technology everywhere. Long road. We will get there.
I agree, it’s overdue. I think Foley often toed the company line. There were big plans in the works before the recession, would have set us up nicely. Money dried up and Machen wasn’t a fan of spending/financing on athletics at the level we should have been.
My friend, there are LEGIONS of fans who have said upgrades to BHG were long overdue. Walking aTM’s stadium among others. Jumbotron at AU; UT expansion; Michigan field; Clemson Everyone sees it.!
We do need to be very careful, so easy to ruin something great. People know the Swamp because of the atmosphere that gets created on Saturdays. I’m glad they’re taking time to study this, needs to be done right. Swamp is too special to screw up.
The Swamp is very, very special..while upgrades are needed, we don't want to make it look too "modern" overly commercial....spent many many years sitting in the Swamp watching our Gators, I love that place!
Well, the article talks about office space and moving weight rooms around. Not really sure where the hundreds of millions of dollars are going, would be nice to see those details. Why bother leaking that some things being considered is office space reallocation and weight rooms... Haven't we done thatn4 or 5 times already. Let's get some meat as to what these "biggest in sec history" renovations and upgrades will be.
Neither Foley/Machen nor Strickin/Fuchs have the ability to spend money they don’t have. “Money dried up”- yes; “wasn’t a fan of spending/financing on athletics”- accurate, but perhaps lacks context. If you want to “blame” someone for the underinvestment, look no further than our mega-donors (or lack thereof, at least compared to the UGAs, Bamas, tO$Us, etc) and where they’ve chosen to direct their contributions over the past few decades (if at all). You can see a similar trend in UF’s NIL performance.
Except it seems most want to chase Alabama. You know, so there's lots of other stuff to do . . . other than pay attention to the game. God, this sport is so dead to me now.
aTm completely rebuilt their stadium and our very own Gators moved a road in order to put in the Champions Club expansion, gutted and remodeled the O-Dome, built the best college baseball stadium in the nation from ground up, and tore down the old stadium and put up the newest football facility in the country. So I'm gonna need to see some real plans before I believe the following... 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 Monday on Sportscene with Steve Russell.
Obviously UF is not going to start over and build a billion dollar football palace, so it does beg the question as to what do they have in mind for the old swamp? Upgrades without destroying the character of the place?
Why? It's the young skinny people that do all the yelling and screaming, not the fat old farts. But the do need to make more accommodations for the wealthy, fat old types too. I just do NOT like any plan that takes seating capacity away from The Swamp. We need more club seating added if anything.
So your saying a couple of coats of paint and some laminated sheeting over Yon Hall is gonna cost 250 million? Wow, I'm putting a bid in............