Record-breaking student interest in the Saturday football game between the University of South Florida and University of Miami has led to the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium opening up.
USF officials hope this demand foreshadows the future of the program — a future that depends on student support.
A large part of that future is a new on-campus stadium, set to open in time for the 2027 season.
USF released plans this week for a dedicated student section on the west side of the stadium, with seats in the center forming a large green Bulls logo.
"I just think it's gonna be a heck of a lot of fun," said USF Athletics Vice President Michael Kelly. "I expect to see that place packed out every game 'cause I know we're getting a great turn out for this Miami game, but we don't see it every game.”
“I bet you when we build this that not only will our team be playing at that level, but I think it's just gonna be the thing to do on campus.”
The student section will have its own dedicated entrance, restrooms, concessions and an area for an in-game disc jockey. It is set to seat more than 8,000 students.
Kelly said this should keep school spirit on the rise and create a unique game day environment.
"What I think from a playing standpoint would be an intimidating situation to see: the rowdiest fans and the students just really having fun and raising Cain to make it a fun and loud place to play,” said “So, I'm excited about it because it's customized and built based on feedback we got from students."
The groundbreaking ceremony for the on-campus stadium is set for October 18.
For the game against UM, 13,179 of the tickets for USF students were claimed within the first 24 hours of being made available. That increased to 14,535 tickets by Sunday morning, according to USF Athletics.
The previous record for tickets claimed in 24 hours was 8,409. That was for last year’s game against the University of Alabama, which ended up with more than 10,000 total student tickets.
As of Thursday, the number of tickets claimed for Saturday has reached capacity of 15,000, according to Kelly.
