Florida Gators Baseball Starts Construction on New Ballpark

By: Max Pinto

The future for the Florida Gators baseball team is looking bright. The 2017 national champions have been dominant the past couple years. They are back to back defending SEC conference champions have been in 7 College World Series since 2010. Although they have been extremely dominant in their conferenece the past years, this year they have been struggling this far, with a 4-5 conference record. The current stadium has been their playing field since 1988 and holds 5,500 with a record attendance of 6,244. It is about time the Gators get a new ballpark. Construction on the $50 million project began this past February and is said to be done before the team's 2020 season. The new stadium is set to have 5,000 chair back seats and an approximate capacity of 10,000. This nearly doubles the capacity of their past stadium and hopefully will draw in more fans for the games. With their existing facility, it has been hard to compete with the other top programs in the nation. A new stadium will not only bring in more fans, but bring in more players. A top of the line facility plays a very important role in the recruiting process. It sometimes can make or break the recruits decision. With how good they have been in the past years, this should only effect them positively, even making them one of the top teams in the nation. Coach Kevin O'Sullivan is a 3-time SEC coach of the year and one of the most successful coaches in the SEC. Being such a great coach, players are attracted to playing for a coach like him. This top of the line ballpark will be the one thing that will take the Florida Gators baseball program to the next level and I will not be surprised if there are many national championships in their future.

Florida Gators Future Stadium

Sources:https://floridagators.com/news/2018/3/23/baseball-gators-getting-a-new-ballpark.aspx

http://www.secsports.com/standings/baseball