Ten days ago, Arizona announced it would spend $50 million to upgrade infrastructure at McKale Center and Arizona Stadium and improve the fansβ game-day experience.
Four days later, Arizona State declared it would spend $35 million for a new football practice facility and $100 million to overhaul ASUβs antiquated basketball arena.
Talk about getting one-upped.
Included in ASUβs plans is a βstatue gardenβ outside of Desert Financial Arena. Thatβs a bit extreme for a school whose basketball program has not won a league championship since the WAC years and whose basketball success has ebbed since Arizona hired Lute Olson in 1983.
But thatβs a story for another day. The key components to Arizonaβs improvements at McKale and Arizona Stadium include lighting, sound, seating, restrooms and other fan conveniences.
This is a never-ending story, not just on the UA campus, but in college athletics. The UA has spent more than $110 million on improvements to Arizona Stadium and its football facilities since 2010. It has spent close to $100 million on upgrades to McKale Center in the same period.
Arizona Stadium, which is 96 years old, has been a costly beast. Since it opened in 1929, the stadium has required 12 major overhauls/additions. Can you imagine what the next 96 years will cost the school to keep its football plant competitive with its opponents? Maybe 10 times that much. More than a billion dollars.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita (1) gets his arm loose as the team prepares to face Oklahoma State, Oct. 4, 2025, at Arizona Stadium.
Other than inflation, how did the UA spend tens of millions on Arizona Stadium the last 96 years?
It started out so simply. When the Board of Regents approved construction of the football stadium in 1926, it cost $166,888. According to figures in the Daily Star archives, it cost $5,000 for the land and about $160,000 for construction of a 7,000-seat stadium, as well as a swimming pool and baseball field.
How did they pay that 100 years ago? Southern Arizona mining companies donated about $55,000. The Board of Regents supplied $40,000. Donors threw in a then-robust $25,000. Most of the rest became debt-service. It seemed so simple then.
Then began the never-ending series of improvements, about one per decade. Hereβs the list according to research from the Star archives and author Abe Chaninβs wonderful book βThey Fought Like Wildcats.β
β 1931: Lights were added at Arizona Stadium for $5,000. It cost about $15 per game for electricity.
β 1938: At a cost of about $80,000, the east side stands were built, adding 3,600 seats.
β 1947: Capacity was increased by about 14,000 when east-side dormitories were built for about $95,000.
β 1949: South end zone grandstands (and dormitories) were added. Capacity grew to 22,600. Cost: $901,404.
β 1965: About 10,000 seats were added and a new press box built. New lights and offices were built. Cost: $1.38 million.
β 1976: About 17,000 seats were added with an upper deck on the east side. Cost: $7.8 million.
β 1988: Permanent bleachers, about 4,000 seats, were added in the north end zone. Cost: $2 million.
β 1989: A four-story skybox and press box were built on the west side. Cost $6.3 million
β 1998: New restrooms, concession stands and other amenities were added. About $4 million.
β 2010: A huge scoreboard was added in the south end zone. Cost: $7 million.
β 2012: The Lowell-Stevens Football Facility was built in the north end zone. Cost: $74 million.
β 2018: An overhaul of the infrastructure of the Zona Zoo on the east side was completed. Cost: $24 million.
β 2023: About $8 million was spent to βspruce upβ the interior of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility at the request of coach Jedd Fisch.
How did the UA pay for the many construction projects at Arizona Stadium? When the skyboxes and press box were built in 1989, the school agreed to a loan that cost roughly $300,000 a year for 30 years. The last payment was made in 2019.
Whatβs next? How about a statue garden outside McKale Center? Unlike ASU, the UA has a long list of those worthy of consideration.
