Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier–Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),Spurrier's Name to be Added to Florida Field Retrieved June 9, 2016 popularly known as "The Swamp", is a football stadium in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is located on the campus of the University of Florida and is the home field of the Florida Gators football team. It was originally known as Florida Field when it opened as a 22,000-seat facility in 1930, and it has been expanded and renovated many times over the ensuing decades. Most of the university's athletic administration offices have been housed under the west stands of the stadium since the 1960s. It was also home to most football offices and training areas until a large stand-alone facility for the program opened nearby in 2022.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the largest stadium in Florida, the 12th largest stadium in the United States, and the 20th largest stadium in the world, as measured by its official seating capacity of 88,548 – though, it has often held over 90,000 for Florida's home football games.
Location Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is located on the northern edge of the University of Florida's Gainesville campus. The stadium and its approach are bordered by West University Avenue to the north, Gale Lemerand Drive to the west, and Stadium Road to the south. To the east is the University of Florida Campus Historic District, which is the oldest portion of the campus and includes the Murphree Area student residence complex, the Florida Gymnasium, and Ustler Hall. Just west of the stadium across Gale Lemerand Drive is the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, which is the home arena for the Florida Gators men's basketball, women's basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, and swimming and diving teams. Beside the O'Connell Center are several football practice fields, an indoor football practice facility, and a football training and administrative building that opened in 2022.
Naming
The name of the facility was simply "Florida Field" from its opening in 1930 until 1989, when the university renamed the stadium in honor of citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., an alumnus and major benefactor of the university and its sports programs. However, the playing surface remained "Florida Field", and the facility's full name was "Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field" from 1990 until 2016.
On September 3, 2016, the playing surface was renamed in honor of former Florida quarterback and head coach Steve Spurrier. As UF athletic director Jeremy Foley explained, "Coach Spurrier did more than win a Heisman Trophy, a national championship, and a bunch of games. Coach Spurrier changed the culture of Florida Athletics." As a result, the facility's official name is now "Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium".
The facility may be best known as simply "The Swamp", a nickname which was coined by Spurrier in 1992. As he explained at the time, "A swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. We feel like it's an appropriate nickname for our stadium." Both the "Swamp" nickname and the "only Gators get out alive" tagline added later by UF's sports marketing department quickly became popular and have been commonly used ever since.
Stadium history Earlier facilities
From the establishment of the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1906 until the 1910–1911 academic year, the school's intercollegiate football team and club-level baseball team played and practiced at Gainesville's municipal athletic park known The Ballpark or as "The Baseball Park". p. 7
The university began developing its first on-campus sports field in 1910, when it purchased and cleared open land just west of the campus. Wooden bleachers were installed and a football gridiron and baseball diamond were laid out by the end of the year, and University Athletic Field made its debut in January 1911 when the Florida Gators baseball team opened the season at the new facility. Florida's football team began play there in 1911, which was also the year that they began using the "Gators" nickname. Larger bleachers were installed in 1915, when the facility was rechristened "Fleming Field" in honor of recently deceased former Florida governor Francis P. Fleming.
Fleming Field had primitive amenities and a maximum capacity of about 5000 with standing room. As Florida began scheduling contests against established football programs from across the south, several "home" games per season were held at larger venues across the state, usually Fairfield Stadium in Jacksonville and Plant Field in Tampa.Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 38 (2007).
Construction, expansions, and renovations
Initial planning and construction Florida's football program first earned national prominence in the 1920s, prompting incoming university president John J. Tigert to begin a drive to construct a proper on-campus stadium upon his arrival in 1928.Julian M. Pleasants, Gator Tales: An Oral History of the University of Florida, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 31–32 (2006). With state funding unavailable at the cusp of the Great Depression, the semi-independent University of Florida Athletic Association was organized to raise funds and oversee the project, and Tigert and ten supporters of Florida's athletic program took out personal loans to expedite construction of the $118,000, 22,000-seat football stadium.Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, p. 41.
Construction began on April 16, 1930, and soon faced serious engineering and geotechnical obstacles related to natural groundwater and drainage. The chosen site was a shallow ravine, with approximately 30 rows of the current seating area below the level of the surrounding land. During preliminary excavation and leveling work, water from a previously unknown underground stream began to pour into the construction site from the north, miring the future playing surface in mud. The problem was resolved with the installation of massive underground culverts that diverted the stream to Graham Pond two blocks south of the stadium site, and ultimately, to Lake Alice in the then-undeveloped southern side of the UF campus.
The groundwater issues delayed completion of the stadium and forced the Gators to play the first several home games of the 1930 season at Fleming Field. A construction team of 80 laborers and mules finally completed Florida Field in time for the homecoming game on November 8, 1930, against Alabama, the dominant Southern Conference team of the day.Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, p. 42.
In 1934, Florida Field was dedicated to the memory of Florida servicemen who died in World War I, and a memorial plaque to that effect was installed on the outside wall behind the north end zone.Gatorzone.com, Facilities, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field . Retrieved April 9, 2010.
Expansions As originally designed, Florida Field had a capacity of 21,769 and consisted of a gently-sloping, U-shaped concrete grandstand encompassing approximately the lower half of the current seating area. The first row of seats is quite close to the sidelines, so when the university decided to add a running track a year after the stadium opened, it was installed perpendicular to the football field beyond the open-ended south endzone. This adjoining track facility, which was used by the Florida Gators track and field program beginning in 1932, had its own set of bleachers and was known as Graham Field.
Since then, Florida Field has undergone many renovations and expansions, almost always adding more seats. The official seating capacity is currently 88,548, although the actual attendance for key games has regularly exceeded 90,000. It is the second largest sports facility in the state of Florida behind only the Daytona International Speedway. Significant expansions and additions include: In 1949–1950, capacity was almost doubled to about 40,000 with the addition of a second tier to the west stands and the installation of bleachers in the previously open south endzone. A press box was also added atop the west stands and stadium lights were installed, allowing the 1950 season to kick off with the Gators' first home night game, a 7–3 win over The Citadel. An extensive expansion in 1965–1966 doubled the size of the east grandstand while developing the facility for other uses by adding a dormitory (Yon Hall) for male athletes under the new east stands along with office space and meeting areas for the football program and UF's athletic department under the existing west stands. The press box was significantly enlarged and modernized at this time, and larger bleachers were installed in the south endzone, increasing capacity to over 60,000. These additions necessitated the removal of the adjacent running track, which was replaced by nearby Percy Beard Track Stadium.Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, p. 78. In 1982, the south endzone was enclosed with a new double-decked grandstand that featured Florida Field's first chairback seats and a wide concourse under the upper deck that allowed a view of the field. The new concourse connected with existing concourses under the east and west grandstands so that fans could circle the stadium, though not with a constant view of the playing field. Beneath the new grandstand, modern training and weight room facilities for the football team were added. In 1991, a large upper deck of "Sunshine Seats" and a middle deck of club seating dubbed the "Touchdown Terrace" were constructed above the existing north endzone seats. Under the new seating area, a wide concourse was added along with new entrances and a façade that extended the stadium across an existing road and onto Fleming Field. This expansion completed the double-decked bowling-in of the stadium and raised capacity to over 85,000, making Florida Field the largest stadium in the state. In 2003, the press box was expanded and several levels of club seats and luxury boxes were added on either side, stretching the structure across the top of the entire west grandstand. The entrance to the new boxes extended the stadium far enough to the west that a bend was added to Gale Lemerand Drive to provide adequate pedestrian space between the stadium and the street. In 2008, the Heavener Football Complex opened on the exterior southwest corner of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The $28 million addition, which was funded entirely with private donations, is meant to be the "front door" of the football program and houses a museum highlighting Florida Football history along with offices, meeting space, and other facilities. At about the same time, new Daktronics HD-16 video boards were installed atop the upper deck of both endzones. After the 2011 season, an extensive renovation of the concourse under the west stands improved restrooms, lighting, concessions, and crowd circulation patterns and added flat-screen displays so that fans can keep track of the game in the enclosed area. Also, bronze statues of Florida's three Heisman Trophy winners (Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Tim Tebow) were placed outside the stadium near the center of the west grandstand. In 2015, an indoor football practice facility opened across the street from Florida Field. In 2022, the Heavener Football Training Center opened beside the practice facility. This stand-alone football complex includes updated locker rooms, a 3-D hologram training center, modern strength and conditioning areas, hydrotherapy facilities, meeting rooms, a player nutrition center, and offices, with some of these functions transferred from older facilities under the stands of Florida Field.
2026 Renovation