There are seven college football programs unveiling new or heavily-renovated stadiums this season, with a total construction costs reaching $495.3M. The Univ. of California led the way with its $321M retrofit of Memorial Stadium, while TCU spent $105M to upgrade Amon G. Carter Stadium. There was also more than $69M spent on stadium construction at facilities for schools below D-I for '12. When the NAIA Lindenwood Univ.-Belleville (Ill.) football team makes its debut on Saturday, its unique maroon-and-gray striped field will likely garner most of the media coverage. Lindenwood’s EnviroTurf will be one of only four college fields in the country to be a color other than green. Colleges plan to spend $683.4M on new or upgraded facilities set to open for the '13 season, led by the Univ. of Washington's $250M expansion of Husky Stadium, as well as new venues for the Univ. of Houston and Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte.
| NEW/IMPROVED COLLEGE FOOTBALL VENUES FOR '12 |
| VENUE | SCHOOL | COST |
| Memorial Stadium | Univ. of California-Berkeley | $321.0M |
| Amon G. Carter Stadium | TCU | $105.0M |
| Alabama State Univ. Stadium | Alabama State Univ. | $62.0M |
| Williams Football Stadium | Liberty Univ. | $4.0M |
| Harlen C. Hunter Stadium | Lindenwood Univ.-Belleville | $2.3M |
| KCU Stadium | Kentucky Christian Univ. | $1.0M |
| Lincoln Univ. Stadium | Lincoln Univ. of Pa. | n/a |
| | | |
| TREND FOR COLLEGE STADIUM
CONSTRUCTION/IMPROVEMENT COSTS |
| YEAR | AMOUNT SPENT |
| '14 (projected) | $374.2M |
| '13 (projected) | $683.4M |
| '12 | $495.3M |
| '11 | $175.8M |
| '10 | $459.9M |
| '09 | $1.1B |
| '08 | $785.1M |
| '07 | $165.6M |
| '06 | $622.2M |
| '05 | $663.0M |
| '04 | $337.2M |
| '03 | $633.8M |
| '02 | $317.3M |
| '01 | $635.5M |
| '00 | $303.6M |
| '99 | $301.9M |
| '98 | $270.0M |
| '97 | $232.1M |
