Florida university changing contractors for US$340 million football stadium project

A render of the future University of South Florida (USF) Bulls’ football stadium. (Image courtesy USF)

The university, located near the City of Tampa, signed a deal in 2022 with US-based Barton Malow to build the new on-campus stadium with Populous – an American architecture firm – serving as subcontractor.

The original arrangement was a design-build delivery method set for completion in 2026.

However, the university announced last December that a timetable change – based on unidentified supply-chain issues – encouraged the USF Board of Trustees to accept a construction-manager-at-risk arrangement and pushed back the completion date to 2027.

On 9 April, USF announced that it was moving on from Barton Malow. Populous will stay on the scheme.

“The selected team has worked extensively with college and professional stadiums throughout the country, numerous facilities in the Tampa Bay region and state of Florida and has previously partnered on more than $1.2 billion in projects with USF’s design team, Populous,” said USF.

About the USF football stadium project

The University of South Florida Bulls football team plays in the top tier of American college football.

The team currently shares a gameday facility with the National Football League’s (NFL) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Raymond James Stadium.

The new football stadium would be an on-campus build designed to seat up to 50,000 people. It is to include premium seats, a dedicated student section, and large concourses to hold concessions and restrooms. The project will also renovate the team’s practice facilities. 

Since the football program was founded in 1997, the team has never played in its own purpose-built stadium.

“Choosing a construction management team is big step forward in our process to deliver a world-class stadium that will transform the future of our university and the on-campus experience,” said USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly and USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman, the co-chairs of the stadium planning committee. “After conducting a thorough review of each proposal we received for the project, we’re excited to get started on our partnership with a team that brings a proven track record of success.”