TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The University of South Florida breaks ground on its on-campus football stadium, a historic Friday for both the school and football program.

The team currently plays home games at Raymond James Stadium. According to Michael Kelly, the vice president of athletics, the stadium has been a goal for the school since the football program started more than 25 years ago.

“I think the way it’s being designed will create a wonderful home-field advantage because it’s being built with a lot of steepness to it and a special student section. It will make things really, really intense and really, really loud and provide a good home-field advantage,” Kelly said.

Football head coach Alex Golesh said it will be the best facility in the country, which will help recruit and retain athletes, and win games.

“The stadium is going to give us a true home field advantage. You look at where the students are, it will be packed every Saturday and this will will be the hardest place in the entire country to play,” Golesh said.

The new facility is expected to cost $340 million. USF leaders said you can’t put a price tag on the benefits the stadium adds on campus.

“If we can bring our alumni back, our student population is already here, the Tampa Bay community — we just know it’s going to be a real special moment to have all these people on our campus enjoying a lot of wins for Bulls nation,” Jay Strom with the USF Foundation said.

Strom and Kelly believe the addition of the new stadium and new operations building puts their team on equal footing with other major programs in Florida and around the country.

“There’s very few college athletics departments in the country that can offer what the University of South Florida can,” Kelly said.

Construction on the new stadium is expected to be complete for the 2027 football season.