Nebraska and Auburn are the latest schools to announce multi-hundred-million-dollar projects to provide fans with new seating experiences that generate new revenues, much like Florida State introduced this past season with the $200 million construction of the west side project with a re-imagined Champions Club.
Here’s what those programs are in the process of constructing:
The Nebraska Board of Regents will decide on a $600 million rebuild of Memorial Stadium during its April 24 meeting. The project will be funded with a mix of at least $250 million in donor support and $350 million in private bond financing.
The upgrades are projected to allow year-round engagement by elevating the game-day atmosphere as well as concerts and other events. The project will include 20,000 club seats, reducing capacity to 80,000 – a 7,500-seat reduction – but increasing annual revenue to $95 million, a 40 percent increase over current revenue.
Sound familiar?
It is interesting to note Nebraska allocates only 7,000 seats for the band and its students, compared to Florida State’s allocation of more than 17,000 seats.
As FSU promised with the west side project, a redesigned Memorial stadium will offer improved access, enhanced sightlines and upgraded amenities.
Construction will begin after the 2026 football season, with 50% completion for 2027 and completion in time for the 2028 season.
That’s getting after it. More on Nebraska’s project
Auburn approves $300 Million North End Zone Project
The Auburn Board of Trustees has approved Jordan-Hare Stadium’s North End Zone Project, with construction beginning this summer with completion scheduled for the spring of 2029.
When I first read that timeline, which adds only 3,000 club seats, I wondered why it would take so long to complete. After all, Florida State built the Dunlap Champions Club in the nine-months between the 2015 and 2016 football season, and it had 6,000 club seats, new kitchens and more than 30,000 square feet of club amenities.
So I dug a little deeper and found the scope of Auburn’s end zone project is much bigger. The seven-story project (Champions Club is six stories) includes 300,000 square feet of club space (Champions Club 30,000) with a price of $300 million (Champions Club $70 million).
The entire Champions Club project included renovations and re-coating the entire stadium, plus erecting the north end zone scoreboard and ribbon boards at a total cost of under $100 million. And we were told that was the largest project ever built in Leon County within nine months. And it was built on budget and on time.
The scope of the Auburn project also includes stadium-wide improvements, including five new entry gates, 66 new concession points of sale, 13 elevators and 270 restroom fixtures.
The project is a joint venture with Auburn’s Division of Student affairs. In addition to retail space, the game-day concession operations is being built so that it can double as a campus dining facility named Shug’s Food Hall.
By the way, FSU’s west side club dining and kitchen facilities are also being used daily as the training table for FSU athletes, rather than expanding the Figg Dining Hall. Students, coaches and staff are enjoying the food, amenities and interactions.
Like Florida State did this past year with the Dunlap Champions Club re-modeling and west side club, Auburn is introducing “a variety of new premium seating types, including loge seating, patio suites and terrace seating but will not lose seating capacity.
The project will feature more than 50 suites across three levels and introduce four new reserved seat club experiences to include the Tiger’s Terrace, 1892 Club, 1892 Legacy Club, and Heisman Founder’s Club. Two new access-pass club experiences will be introduced – the Kick Six Field Club and Pat’s Place.
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