A multi-million dollar loan, student fees and untraceable donations. 

Those are just three of the seven ways USF says it will be funding its estimated $340-million stadium project, which broke ground earlier this month. 

The stadium is slated to be completed in 2027. 

Here’s a breakdown on those three main ways USF is spending its money. 

Private Loan – $200 million

The stadium will primarily be funded through a $200 million debt issuance by the USF Financing Corporation, which was approved by Florida’s Board of Governors in September 2023. 

USF is expected to pay approximately an additional $12.96 million in interest. The interest rate of the debt was set at 6.48%, according to the Board of Governors. 

The school says it will repay this debt from several sources, including future revenue generated by the stadium. Some have questioned this speculation. 

Ben Watkins, the director of Florida’s Division of Bond Finance, expressed his concerns over the financial viability of the university’s plan in a memo released in August 2023. 

Watkins said the project is “ambitious” for the university and relies on projected revenue and donations rather than USF Athletics revenue. 

Watkins also said that USF Athletics has operated at a loss for two of the past five years.

USF Athletics reported approximately a $135,000 loss during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and a $6.2 million deficit from the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Capital Gifts – $50 million

Some of the stadium costs will be funded through capital gifts, mostly in the form of private donations to the university. 

Donations are made via the USF Foundation, a non-profit that “connects the university to donors,” according to its website. 

Direct support organizations are shielded from public records, unless they are publicly announced, according to state public records laws. 

At the time of publishing, USF has raised over $45 million of the $50 million goal, according to a university spokesperson. 

The largest donation thus far has come from Tampa General Hospital, who donated $25 million last September.  

Tampa General Hospital will be the namesake of USF Athletics’ operational center, which will be constructed adjacent to the stadium and is expected to be completed in 2026. The center will be named the “Tampa General Hospital Center for Athletic Excellence” 

Most recently, the university received a $1 million gift each from the Gonzmart Family Foundation and Horton Family Foundation. 

The Gonzmarts’ are the owners of the 1905 Restaurant Group, which owns seven Columbia restaurant locations, including one in Ybor City.

Oscar Horton of the Horton Family Foundation is a USF trustee and is CEO of Sun State International, a commercial transportation organization.

Student Capital Improvement Fees – $31 million

In 2017, USF students struck down a Student Government poll that proposed a $6 to $9 fee to fund the stadium construction. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean that students won’t be funding the construction in some capacity. The university plans to use $31 million from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund (CITF) – a tuition fee collected at all Florida public universities. 

The CITF fee at USF is set at $6.76 per credit hour, according to State University System of Florida documents.  

The CITF fee is intended to “maximizes the effectiveness of capital investment,” and “promote orderly, planned campus development,” according to USF documents. 

The usage of the CITF towards the stadium was approved by the Florida Board of Governors last September. 

Just over $6.3 million collected from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund during the 2024-25 fiscal year will be contributed to the stadium, according to university documents. 

The payments from the CITF will be made in a series of five installments, according to a university spokesperson. 

The trust fund will be used for the stadium up until the 2026-27 fiscal year. 

Other Sources – $59.5 Million

USF plans to use three other sources of equity funds for the stadium.

The university will use $25 million from the sale of eight T-Mobile educational broadband service licenses in 2023. These licenses are a band of spectrum set aside by the FCC for public good. 

Other contributions include $15 million from administrative overhead and $11.5 million from auxiliary funds. Auxiliary funds are typically reserved for entities that generate their own revenue. 

USF will also utilize $8 million from the sale of WUSF-TV. 

The university sold the station for $18.7 million as part of the Federal Communication Commission’s 2017 auction to repurpose broadcast television spectrum.

This story has been updated.