Former boxer and billionaire John Ruiz is on the hunt for a dedicated UM football stadium. Ruiz believed that having another stadium would be better because of the inconvenience it is to drive such a long distance. It is over 20 miles from campus and too far for many people to go.

His efforts started with trying to use Coral Gables High school as the place to build the new stadium. However it was denied by the City of Coral Gables. Afterwards, he decided to find another possible location. He came up with the idea of Tropical Park. 

The problem seen with their current stadium is the distance. It is over 20 miles from campus and too far for many people to go. People would rather watch the games at home than drive for 40 minutes to the game. I believe It would be most beneficial to have a stadium on campus but due to space limitations it is not possible.  A lot of room is needed and there is little to none. Some arrangements of fields could be possible on campus, there are big practice football fields that may be able to host a stadium but there is still the issue of parking, accessibility, and if there is enough room for a 50,000 person stadium.

I think that the games need to be closer to the campus which Tropical provides. However it is still not that close to the campus. Tropical park is in the middle of nowhere which may cause an issue. There are also only a couple entrances to the park which means the traffic would be very bad on the way in and out of the stadium. Many things about the park would need to be changed to make it more suitable for the stadium. I think it will be more beneficial to have a closer stadium but I don’t think it will make a massive difference for the team and attendance.

The University of Florida is a good demonstration of having the stadium on campus. Averaging around 84,000 fans per game UF shows how beneficial having a stadium on campus really is.

I can’t wait to see what ends up happening in the future.