The University of Florida Athletics Association has expressed its desire to reduce capacity in its football stadium, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, by several thousand seats— at a minimum. Some of the more dramatic possibilities the UAA laid out called for the removal of over 20,000 seats!!! The idea is to improve comfort and the overall game experience by widening the seats and aisles a little, and that is an understandable and reasonable thought process. However, dropping capacity beneath 85,000 or so to achieve this goal directly goes against what Gator Nation is all about.

This is not a stadium for the Jacksonville Jaguars we’re talking about; it’s the stadium of the college football team with one of the largest fan bases out there. As such, it is in the best interests of the totality of the Florida fan base for the capacity of its home stadium to not be so drastically shrunken. This simple exercise of supply and demand will inevitably cause ticket prices to soar, both from the UAA’s ticket office and (especially) on the resale market. While it is understandable for the University Athletics Association to want to make money— it is, after all, a business— the income of any good business should not be a side effect of infuriating the majority of its consumers. And really, it’s going to be difficult to take the University of Florida seriously when it asks for donations ever again when it’s estimating a price tag of over a billion dollars for a wave of renovations that will include doubling the amount of luxury box seats and plausibly result in tens of thousands fewer of its fans being able to spend their dollar enjoying their favorite pastime— Gator football in the Swamp— on a weekly basis.

As Gator fans, we urge you, Scott Stricklin and Chip Howard, to please keep the capacity of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at at least 85,000. The expansion of the aisles from 36 inches to 48 inches, and the widening of seats from 16.9 inches to 19 inches, appears to be inevitable, as any renovations to the lower bowl must be in compliance with new ADA regulations. This alone, according to the aforementioned linked document, will result in about 8,750 seats being removed from the capacity. And it’s objectively difficult for any rational fan to find fault with that. But some of those seat losses can be recouped by adding another six or seven rows across the top of the Eastside stands— a plausible request that, if fulfilled, would not cause the demolition of any street or property in the process. This is the solution that suits both sides— the Swamp would become much nicer and more comfortable for those who greatly want that, and would still give one of the largest and most energetic college football fanbases in the country the opportunity to show up in massive numbers each week in support of their beloved Gators.

As you yourself said, Scott, you aren’t orchestrating these renovations as a bandaid. You’re doing all of this to be a 75-year solution. Please, Scott and Chip, do not make a mistake that the majority of Gator Nation will be incensed about for the next 75 years. Do what’s best for ALL of Gator Nation— not just your top-dollar donors— and keep Ben Hill Griffin Stadium’s capacity at at least 85,000.