College football arms race: Georgia football announces new $80M building
The business of college football continues to grow, as an arms race over facilities shows no signs of slowing down.
Over the weekend, the University of Georgia announced plans for a new $80 million football operations building, the latest addition to the program’s already impressive football complex. The athletic department has already pledged over $90 million toward the infrastructure around the program over the past four years. This comes as the Bulldogs look to compete with the likes of Alabama and LSU in the SEC.
Spending big on football is a way of life for many of these programs, but the rich keep on getting richer. Flashy football facilities, important in luring blue-chip recruits to campus, have become the new tug-of-war for many athletic departments.
It isn’t just the SEC, where football reigns and money is no concern. Around the country, athletic departments are pouring millions into football with an emphasis on new practice facilities and locker rooms. As television continues to dominate the growth of the sport, more programs are benefitting from the investment of network cash into their already lucrative programs.
Even colleges and programs that might not register at quite the same level as say Georgia are spending big .Georgia was top 10 in the nation last year with 92,746 in average attendance.
Kansas State committed $105 million to upgrading their facilities across all sports. A large portion of this is upgrading their football stadium, considered one of the worst in the country. Central Florida is planning massive upgrades to their football facility, including a lazy river.
And Rutgers recently unveiled a gorgeous new locker room, part of a huge push from the athletic department to get their facilities up to speed in the Big Ten.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
The new Georgia facility will feature offices for the coaching staff, a new locker room as well as a players’ lounge and a nutrition area. The project will be undertaken in two stages and is expected to be completed by early 2022.