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$1.45 billion renovation cost for The Swamp

Walsh5 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7351205/2026/06/11/florida-gators-stadium-the-swamp-renovations/

I think as much as we want a stadium closer to campus, seeing stuff like this makes me kind of happy that we play at Hard Rock. The cost of ownership is insane. I'd rather that money go to NIL. I don't see how Florida could afford this. Penn State is spending 700 million on its upgrade.
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I definitely agree with this. I think our lack of money dedicated to stadium upkeep has freed our money in other more relevant areas to modern college football. Also, not spending money on large stadium projects is what has freed up money for Ole Miss. Ole Miss doesn't have a large stadium by SEC standards and they were going to spend multimillions on a stadium refurbishment project but decided to redirect that money towards NIL efforts and now they're recruiting with the best of them especially in the portal.
 
caneingville said:
Same with UF. They have concerts and other events in the ODome. Swamp isn’t used for anything else.
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Office Space No GIF


As the field doubles as a retention pond for the city’s sewage system
 
GojiraCane said:
One day, we might get that spot back. And I look forward to “The Orange Bowl” arising anew.
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We could get that spot back if the Marlins moved and I think that’s a real possibility it becomes vacant in the not too distant future, however idk if we’d be willing to get into whatever kind of bidding war it’d be for the vacancy of those grounds. Times have changed unfortunately. Any open space within the downtown area is destined to become a new high rise..
 
TboneJones said:
I definitely agree with this. I think our lack of money dedicated to stadium upkeep has freed our money in other more relevant areas to modern college football. Also, not spending money on large stadium projects is what has freed up money for Ole Miss. Ole Miss doesn't have a large stadium by SEC standards and they were going to spend multimillions on a stadium refurbishment project but decided to redirect that money towards NIL efforts and now they're recruiting with the best of them especially in the portal.
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I wonder how long they can defer that for. I remember a section of the Orange Bowl upper deck falling out from beneath onlookers in 1986.
 
LeanMeanOrangeGreen said:
We could get that spot back if the Marlins moved and I think that’s a real possibility it becomes vacant in the not too distant future, however idk if we’d be willing to get into whatever kind of bidding war it’d be for the vacancy of those grounds. Times have changed unfortunately. Any open space within the downtown area is destined to become a new high rise..
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the marlins cant ever move out of the stadium.

its basically how it was written when they made the deal with the county for the stadium.
 
Handsome Squidbum said:
The thing that Hard Rock can’t replicate (and in reality, no modern stadium will ever replicate due to changes in construction) is that the Orange Bowl substructure acted like a giant tuning fork. The metal stadium literally flexed and shook when the crowd was stomping. As in you could actually watch people bobbing up and down like a cork in the ocean when it got rowdy. If you didn’t experience it, it’s hard to describe the sensation and how unique it was.

That scared the living **** out of opposing teams as it was not only loud, but the fans looked like they were a vertical wall of 80k+ eyes looking down on the players and the actual playing field was vibrating akin to a 7.5 earthquake. I have never been in another stadium that got even close to that (loudness, yes- but not actually seeing a stadium twist like that). Virtually all stadiums now are reinforced concrete and they eliminate the flexing by design. So even if we got a new 50k seat stadium closer to campus it would just be a pale imitation without the metal construction and design.
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As a little kid, shidddd, it scared the **** outta me. I used to think the whole **** OB was gonna collapse. I'd still be screaming like every other maniac in there, but that fear was always in the back of my mind...
 
RattlerCane305 said:
As a little kid, shidddd, it scared the **** outta me. I used to think the whole **** OB was gonna collapse. I'd still be screaming like every other maniac in there, but that fear was always in the back of my mind...
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It did nearly
Collapse after a hurricane where they moved everyone from the upper bowl to lower bowl against unc in 05
 
hoops156 said:
the marlins cant ever move out of the stadium.

its basically how it was written when they made the deal with the county for the stadium.
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Forgive me for my ignorance if I’m completely wrong here, but from my understanding the organization generates little (if any) profit. Whenever something was signed into agreement I’m sure they know what the current state of baseball would be in 15 years or so later.
 
LeanMeanOrangeGreen said:
Forgive me for my ignorance if I’m completely wrong here, but from my understanding the organization generates little (if any) profit. Whenever something was signed into agreement I’m sure they know what the current state of baseball would be in 15 years or so later.
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tech no team really makes a profit. the heat, on paper, famously dont make a dime and actually lose money yearly. the money you make is in the value. of the team when you go to sell.

also the deal w the county was the marlins have to pay everything back on the stadium build if they leave before a certain date. The Miami Marlins are legally locked into loanDepot park through 2057. The franchise signed a massive 45-year non-relocation agreement with the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County in exchange for over $510 million in public funding to build the stadium, which opened in 2012. Breaking this lease early would trigger exorbitant financial penalties.

also they have their own ballpark here and when the stadium does sell out for baseball and is very fun when its any other team but the marlins. the baseball classic games were a blast in miami.

you gotta good product on the field consistently and people will start coming back.
 
NZ Cane said:
Dump.

No literally, probably buying new ****ters, pipes etc...I would assume its just open troughs currently so thats actually a huge upgrade.
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If UF's crappers need upgrades - they should just get a few hundred five-gallon buckets.

Most of their fans would consider placement of new 5-gallon buckets to be a real upgrade to what they have at home.
 
hoops156 said:
tech no team really makes a profit. the heat, on paper, famously dont make a dime and actually lose money yearly. the money you make is in the value. of the team when you go to sell.

also the deal w the county was the marlins have to pay everything back on the stadium build if they leave before a certain date. The Miami Marlins are legally locked into loanDepot park through 2057. The franchise signed a massive 45-year non-relocation agreement with the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County in exchange for over $510 million in public funding to build the stadium, which opened in 2012. Breaking this lease early would trigger exorbitant financial penalties.

also they have their own ballpark here and when the stadium does sell out for baseball and is very fun when its any other team but the marlins. the baseball classic games were a blast in miami.

you gotta good product on the field consistently and people will start coming back.
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The Marlins will never be good under their operating model.
 
hoops156 said:
I agree (at least consistently good). they had two title years
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Absolutely. I mean though, with the model they’ve had since the second title - ie don’t allow your own rookies to (generally) reach a second contract but trade them for prospects….whom if they develop are then traded before they can reach a second contract for more prospects.
 
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