The Tampa Sports Authority is negotiating to operate the University of South Florida’s new on-campus stadium, according to a term sheet presented to the authority board Tuesday.
The facility operating agreement lays out general terms, including the sports authority receiving 15% of the revenue from non-USF games booked by the university and 20% for any event booked by the TSA. All other revenue would go to the school.
The board voted to allow sports authority president-CEO Eric Hart to negotiate a final agreement with the USF Intercollegiate Athletic Association. He expects that to be brought back to the authority in August.
Although the stadium won't open for another 15 months, the arrangement would begin this July 1 and run for four years, with options for two renewals of three years each.
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“There is so much work to do to open a building," Hart said. "There may be things that we find out. We are opening a brand-new building. There's things they don't know; there's things we don't know; and and that's normal, that's a natural process."
According to the term sheet, the sports authority would operate the stadium like other facilities it manages. This includes oversight of law enforcement, security, parking, maintenance, supplies, booking, marketing supporting and capital project coordination.
Hart said the authority's experience launching and operating a large venue like Raymond James Stadium was a major factor in the arrangement.
"I think that our goal with this was is to get the university up and established. It's so critical. Our mission is about supporting the city and the county and the citizens," Hart said. "If we have it, the revenue coming in should offset any losses potentially in events that may be between the two buildings."
Hart said the arrangement is structured so the authority has no upfront financial exposure in operating the stadium.
"We're not investing any cash, they're (USFIAA) covering all of our costs, so we really don't have that upfront exposure," Hart said. "As an organization, they're assuming all of it."
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USF’s responsibilities would include existing service contracts, university police coordination, concessions and sponsorship sales.
The 35,000-seat stadium is under construction on the Tampa campus and is scheduled to open Sept. 5, 2027, when the Bulls host Louisville.
USF has been playing at Raymond James Stadium (or predecessor Tampa/Houlihan’s Stadium) since the football program’s inception in 1997.
Hart said early planning for the stadium is already underway and will require coordination across multiple jurisdictions, including transportation, parking and traffic management.
"You've got an entire parking plan to build that's never been parked," Hart said. "We've got the (Florida Department of Transportation), we have (Hillsborough) County, we have Temple Terrace, we have the city — that's all got to be worked out through all those issues."
Hart said those early conversations already include planning around the surrounding Fowler Avenue corridor, including the MOSI campus area, where the authority’s role could expand into redevelopment projects under consideration by the county.
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The sports authority has been discussed as a potential operator of a planned $70 million indoor sports fieldhouse, part of a broader 74-acre redevelopment of underused land at the MOSI campus across from USF’s athletics district, which also includes the new stadium.
County Commission Chair Ken Hagan, a member of the sports authority board, said the project would be anchored by the fieldhouse and could eventually be operated by TSA.
"The county redeveloping MOSI is going to be anchored by the field house that I've championed for years, and in two or three years this entire corridor is going to be completely transformed," Hagan said. "When you consider the fact that TSA is going to have a significant presence at MOSI ... it's really easy to see the synergies that that will exist between TSA and USF there."
County commissioners are scheduled to consider funding for the project on June 17.
The USF Intercollegiate Athletic Association is a direct support organization that provides financial and operational support for the Athletic Department.
