After months of tension, Gator fans get clarity on renovations to The Swamp

With The Swamp set to get renovations in the near future, one of the massive sticking points for Florida fans was the potential reduction of capacity in the stadium. Current capacity is listed at 88,548 with the potential to get north of 93,000 fans. Florida AD Scott Stricklin had previously admitted that capacity could be reduced, and some documents hinted at a reduction of at least 4,000 seats once the renovations were finished.

With the backdrop of a fan survey sent out earlier this week, Stricklin told multiple outlets that once renovations are finished, The Swamp is not going to reduce capacity.

Scott Stricklin claims The Swamp won’t reduce capacity

Stricklin told Swamp247 and Gators Online that Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is going to maintain its current capacity once renovations are complete. Among the reasons why it was believed Florida would need to take seats out is that Stricklin claimed the ADA Act would require aisles to get wider, which in turn would squeeze some seats out.

On paper, this is a win for fans. A reduction in capacity not only means that fewer fans can attend games, but also that ticket prices would get bumped up even more as there would be less supply but the same amount of demand. Anytime the topic came up online, the near-unanimous consensus was that Florida fans wanted no part of having The Swamp reduced. After all, the stadium still sold out nearly every game, even during the Billy Napier Era.

And if we had to guess, the fact that Stricklin is only now coming out and saying capacity won’t be reduced is a byproduct of the feedback they received on the survey they sent to fans this week.

But there is a fair follow-up question: where exactly are these 4,000+ seats going to be saved from compared to the original plans? Because if Florida is adding premium seating areas, which was the main focus of the survey, how many of these new areas that most fans can’t afford are going to count towards the stadium’s capacity?

And Stricklin told Gators Online that this project will now cost more than originally planned and that sections of the stadium will be added, some of which will include high-priced areas.

In other words, how many seats is the main bowl going to lose to these new premium areas?

For now, this news is a win for fans. But until the final plans are out in the open, fans are also right to keep a skeptical eye on The Swamp and Stricklin.