FBC Mortgage Stadium, home of the UCF Knights football program, has gotten the green light for its first major expansion project, which will expand the Ross Tower to house the Tower Club, suites, press box and broadcast booth, Matt Marschel of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the Florida Board of Governors has officially approved the project.
The Ross Tower Expansion is an $88 million project that will add approximately 58,000 square feet to the tower, including 1,236 club seats, 34 loge boxes, 34 sky bays, 25 luxury suites and a new press box. The project is currently in the design phase, with construction expected to begin after the 2024 season. Construction is expected to be completed by the 2026 season. Once complete, the new tower will provide a fresh look for FBC Mortgage Stadium.
How did UCF manage to do this?
Orange County has a fund called the Tourism Development Tax (TDT). The TDT is a tax that is collected from hotels and other tourism related things. That money is allocated to projects that help attract tourists. UCF President Alex Cartwright and Athletic Director Terry Mohajir knew that UCF sports would bring tourists to the area. They decided to apply for the funds, despite some opposition. UCF's application is for $176 million, which would cover the majority of the projects that will be done in or around FBC Mortgage Stadium.
UCF ultimately received a $90 million allocation from tourism revenue surplus. The $90 million, paid out over nine years, was enough security for UCF to secure a $30 million bond and a $70 million bank loan. The stadium expansion will bring the school about $2.4 million in revenue per year. The amount from TDT is separate from the increased revenue UCF receives as a member of the Big 12 Conference. The Knights will receive $18 million in 2023-24, $19 million in 2024-25 and full media share from 2025-26 onwards.
This wasn't the original plan
Athletic Director Terry Mohajir helped craft the stadium expansion plan. The original plan did not include expanding Ross Tower. Instead, a new building would be erected in the south end zone to house offices, loge seating, and a new Stadium Club. However, it didn't take long for reality to become clear and the plan was all but scrapped. Only McNamara Cove and the relocation of its practice fields were carried over from the original Phase I/II.
New plans were drawn up, and they included an expansion of Ross Tower. As with the original plan, any project at or around FBC Mortgage Stadium would be divided into phases. Phase one would be the construction of the Sharon and Mark Heigl Gateway, which would include the Taylor A. Girling Football Center and the highly anticipated McNamara Cove. Ross Tower would be part of phase two. Eventually, UCF plans to move on to phase three, which would include renovations to the Wayne Dench Sports Center.
About FBC Mortgage Stadium
FBC Mortgage Stadium was originally known as Bright House Network Stadium and opened in 2007 as part of a $60 million project. In 2005, UCF began planning to build a stadium on campus with completion scheduled for 2006. Legal issues forced the university to postpone construction of the stadium by a year, and FBC Mortgage Stadium officially opened in 2007 with a capacity of 45,301.
FBC Mortgage Stadium has undergone a number of smaller renovation projects. In 2015, UCF built the Carl Black and Gold Cabana and converted the midfield section on the visitor's side into premium club seating, reducing seating capacity to its current 44,206. The following season, the original boards were replaced with larger video boards. Last year, UCF replaced the stadium's lighting with LED lights during the season and added LED signage and video ribbons.
Photo courtesy of Orlando Business Journal
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