Here is the plain text result:
TAMPA, Fla. — In September 2021, Will Weatherford stood between green and gold balloons under a white canopy and made the proclamation that could change the trajectory of South Florida football.
After playing their first 25 years across town at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ stadium, the Bulls were ready for their own home. Weatherford vowed an on-campus stadium — a building that has been discussed longer than the school has existed — was finally “going to happen.”
No location in mind. No idea how much it would cost. No proposal to pay for it. And no contingencies for whatever industry headwinds were brewing.
“Sometimes in life,” Weatherford said, “you just have to speak things into existence.”
Like a $340 million stadium. Or, just maybe, a program’s return to major college football after being left behind.
USF administrators say the 35,000-seat venue will transform the university and transcend fall Saturdays when it opens in 2027. But it’s also a nine-figure shot at relevance for a football program that has never won a conference title or appeared in a major bowl game.
Though some premier programs are reevaluating the facilities arms race as they prepare to pay players directly, the Bulls are charging ahead with the most expensive project in program history. The risk is that borrowing $200 million becomes an albatross around the neck of a middling mid-major program that remains a middling mid-major program while the sport’s juggernauts consolidate even more power.
The potential reward is a seat back at the table for whatever the next stage of major college football is — before it’s too late.
“We don’t just want to be in the game,” Weatherford said. “We want to be competitive in the game and win.”
Source link
