College Sports

Gators AD Scott Stricklin Details $1.45 Billion Renovation to the Swamp

By Cam Parker Sports Illustrated

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The University of Florida Athletic Association on Thursday released the official renderings and the cost for its upcoming renovation to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, marking the next step towards finalizing the project

The renovation, which includes making the stadium more Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, technological infrastructure upgrades and new premium seats, will cost $1.45 billion, making it the most expensive stadium renovation in college football history. Funding is expected to come from a combination of private giving, capital reserves and long-term debt through approval of the Florida Board of Governors.

Ahead of Thursday's release, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin detailed why Florida is paying $1.45 billion for a renovation. In essence, it is for balancing necessary updates to the Swamp with keeping the stadium as classic as possible.

"Florida football is obviously the sport that drives the most engagement and helps support the entire UAA and all 21 sports at a high level, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is by far the most important asset that Florida football has," Stricklin told reporters ahead of the release. "So it's really important that we as an association and a university invest back into this really important asset to make sure that it can not only continue to support our fans and our team but, help the program grow as we move forward where resources are going to continue to be really important.

"So, this is going to take a lot of resources, but I think it's also going to generate more resources than it takes in, and it's going to help give us an advantage when it comes online."

A significant portion of the cost - roughly $670 million - came as a result of UF's intention not to reduce the current capacity of 88,548 while also keeping signature features of the Swamp intact, a plan Stricklin revealed in April. These include the orange wing walls and proximity to the field from the stands.

"We could have spent half this amount, and people would sit around and ask, 'What did you even do?' And we'd have lost about 10,000 seats. So there's about half a billion in deferred maintenance and the ADA and infrastructure required," he explained. "We could have renovated some suites and maybe added a couple others, and have been about 75,000 capacity, and have spent $750 million.

"So, the big lift was, let's build the structure to help us provide new products that we think is gonna be very popular. And at the same time, make sure as many people as possible can still come to Gator games."

Among the changes made to the Swamp include wider aisles and railings in the lower bowl to meet ADA compliance, larger concourses with updated bathrooms and concessions and new premium and club seating options that wrap around the stadium from the east stands and the south endzone. Florida is also adding standing room party decks in between the north deck and the east and west stands.

"What we heard from our fans is they want The Swamp to be updated," Stricklin said. "I've heard that repeatedly. We know from interactions with fans one-on-one, like, there is a market for premium seating that we cannot currently provide. And then no one wants it to go below 88,000 seats. So we've heard that pretty consistently. And we also know we have some things we've got to do. Right? The fire marshal's not gonna let us renovate the stadium and not take care of ADA.
And so, it's a big checklist of what we're trying to accomplish."

Helping offset the cost of balancing ADA compliance with keeping the capacity will be the upgraded premium offerings and other sponsorship areas that UF has "never really leveraged." Stricklin said that he believes UF will make roughly $150 million per season in gameday revenue after the renovation is completed, around double what the current annual gameday revenue is.

Stricklin also said Florida is looking to hold concerts in the Swamp "on a regular basis" once construction is completed, which will create more revenue.

"I think we can be really aggressive, and this will generate a lot of excitement among fans, but also among businesses that want to figure out how to be a part of it," he said. "We can leverage that to not only help pay for the stadium, but also leverage that for NIL opportunities."

In a UF BOT meeting on Thursday, the university tabbed Legends Global as the Owner's Representative to "help guy strategic planning and project execution," while the Manhattan Construction Group and Hunt Construction Group will partner as the construction management team.

The project is expected to go before the UF Board of Trustees in September for final approval. Construction is expected to take place in a multi-phase process across the 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 offseasons. Florida will release more specific details regarding the renovations, such as the project timeline and other details about the upgraded amenities, at a later date.

Stricklin said he does not anticipate that there will be holistic changes to the project in between now and when it is finalized.

"I think when people walk in it for the first time, they're going to be blown away, and the money's going to seem very well spent," he said.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as Gators AD Scott Stricklin Details $1.45 Billion Renovation to the Swamp.

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 5:52 PM.

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