Ohio State Planning $125M Renovations to Football Facility, Upgrades Revealed

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork revealed Thursday plans to invest $125 million into renovations for the Buckeyes' football facility.

"There'll be some short-term pain along the way and logistics, but frankly, it's time to go," he told reporters. "We've got to get this thing off the ground. We've been talking about it long enough, and now's the time."

Bjork said building an entirely new facility was unnecessary as the Woody Hayes Athletic Center is already in a "great" location. The price tag speaks to how much the existing structure will change, though.

According to The Athletic's Cameron Teague Robinson, Ohio State is planning to expand its team meeting room and update the spaces for coaches and position groups. Players will also have a remodeled locker room and training room along with a new weight room.

The school is expecting construction to begin in 2028, and the work will require the football team to have temporary accommodations for at least one season.

Brick-and-mortar facilities are like everything else in college football in that universities have spent massive sums of money to be better than the competition.

The dawn of the NIL era has become a complicating factor in that arms race. Money that might've gone to team facilities is now winding up in the hands of players directly, whether that's through revenue sharing or NIL collectives.

"I really believe that now we have a clear message to our donors to say, 'This is what NIL is,'" Bjork said of Ohio State's situation. "And now we get back to sort of traditional fundraising."

Last December, CNBC's Michael Ozanian valued Ohio State athletics at $1.35 billion based on $255 million in revenues from 2024. Per Robinson, revenues in 2025 jumped to $336 million thanks to the Buckeyes' 2024 national championship run.