The University of Central Florida will receive $88 million from a tourism tax fund to help fund the building of new west stadium tower at FBC Mortgage Football Stadium.
According to NSM Today, the expansion will include more capacity, more suite offerings and new premium seating and events space that could be used beyond game day to attract more events to the stadium.
The $88 million grant will be drawn from the excess revenues of the Tourist Development Tax over the course of nine years.
“I did what I thought was best for Central Florida,” Orange County Commissioner Marya Uribe said in an interview with NSM Today. “I think they have earned their keep and I am glad my colleagues were unanimous in it.”
A presentation at the county meeting showed that UCF adds $7.8 billion in value to the Florida economy, according to a Florida Board of Governor's study. The fact that the expansion would also be used for events beyond athletics.
“So they’re actually contributing to our tourist development tax,” Uribe said. “But they’ve never been able to get anything to help them out of it.”
UCF has privately raised over $17 million for future projects to be started once additional private funding is secured.
These plans include a soccer-specific stadium that aims to increase the opportunity to host amateur all-star events and help the stadium continue to serve as a facility for professional soccer clubs looking for warm-weather training grounds, according to the presentation.
