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The Swamp

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, home of Florida. Capacity 88,548. Opened November 8, 1930.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FLPhoto: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
88,548
Opened
1930
Surface
Bermuda grass
Roof
Open air
Elevation
148 ft
Home team
Florida
Florida here
114–⁠31 games on file since 2004
College GameDay
12 times

Since it opened: Florida is 398–⁠137–⁠15 in home games from the 1930 season on. Our source names a game’s stadium only from 2001, so that count takes every earlier home game not marked neutral and may include a few played elsewhere.

Biggest games here

From the games on file here, 2004 on: title and postseason games, meetings of two ranked teams, upsets by our pregame Elo ratings and the biggest swings in CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index.

Crowds season by season

Average and biggest crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium by season, 2004 to 202660k80k100k2004: 90,076 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,3772005: 90,406 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,7162006: 90,409 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,7142007: 90,388 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,7072008: 90,544 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,8332009: 90,635 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,9072010: 90,511 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,8852011: 89,061 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,8882012: 87,590 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,8332013: 87,440 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,4542014: 85,834 a game over 6 games; biggest 89,1172015: 90,065 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,9162016: 87,846 a game over 5 games; biggest 89,6142017: 86,715 a game over 6 games; biggest 89,0662018: 82,328 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,2832019: 84,684 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,5842020: 14,870 a game over 5 games; biggest 16,6102021: 85,175 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,8872022: 87,180 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,7992023: 89,587 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,7512024: 90,017 a game over 7 games; biggest 90,5442025: 90,125 a game over 6 games; biggest 90,7142026: 90,038 a game over 4 games; biggest 90,68320042009201420192024

Biggest crowds on file

90,916Florida State at Florida2015
90,907Florida State at Florida2009
90,894Tennessee at Florida2009
90,888Alabama at Florida2011
90,887Alabama at Florida2021

Bars are each season’s average crowd, dots its biggest (the record in orange), the dashed rule today’s capacity. Attendance is on file for most games from 2001 on.

College GameDay here

ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium 12 times, first in 1997.

Oct 5, 2019Florida 24, Auburn 13Plaza of the Americas
Oct 20, 2012Florida 44, South Carolina 11Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Nov 28, 2009Florida 37, Florida State 10Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Sep 6, 2008Florida 26, Miami 3Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Oct 7, 2006Florida 23, LSU 10Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Nov 29, 2003Florida State 38, Florida 34Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Sep 7, 2002Miami 41, Florida 16Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Dec 1, 2001Tennessee 34, Florida 32Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Nov 20, 1999Florida State 30, Florida 23
Sep 18, 1999Florida 23, Tennessee 21Outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Nov 22, 1997Florida 32, Florida State 29
Sep 20, 1997Florida 33, Tennessee 20

College GameDay’s sites from Wikipedia’s list of College GameDay locations (CC BY-SA).

Weather on game day

Coldest kickoffs

Hottest kickoffs

Coldest game days before 2004

Hottest game days before 2004

Kickoffs: the NOAA report nearest kickoff from the closest weather station (NOAA NCEI Integrated Surface Database). Game days: the day’s high and snowfall at the NOAA station nearest the stadium, for Florida’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Former names
Florida Field (1930–⁠1989)
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (1989–⁠2016)
Opened
November 8, 1930
Architect
Rudolph Weaver
Surface over the years
Natural grass (1930–⁠1970)
AstroTurf (1971–⁠1989)
Bermuda grass (1990–present)
Expanded
1950, 1960, 1966, 1982, 1991, 2003, 2008
Renovated
2003, 2011, 2015, 2017
Record crowd
90,916

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

From above

50 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 220 by 280 meters (740 by 910 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Recent games here

Oct 10, 2026South Carolina 38, 16Florida 19
Sep 26, 202621Florida 52, 4Ole Miss 28
Sep 12, 2026Florida 52, Campbell 3
Sep 5, 2026Florida 66, Florida Atlantic 21
Nov 29, 2025Florida 40, Florida State 21
Nov 22, 202520Tennessee 31, Florida 11
Oct 18, 2025Florida 23, Mississippi State 21
Oct 4, 2025Florida 29, 9Texas 21
Sep 6, 2025South Florida 18, 13Florida 16
Aug 30, 202515Florida 55, Long Island University 0
Nov 23, 2024Florida 24, 9Ole Miss 17
Nov 16, 2024Florida 27, 21LSU 16

Around the stadium

Beer sales
Sold to all fans · Single source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

Pouring rights

PepsiCo has the stadium’s soft-drink pouring rights, on record since 2022. Official source.