University of Memphis nears $50M fundraising milestone as stadium renovation enters final phase

By Omer Yusuf – Reporter, Memphis Business Journal

June 18, 2026

University of Memphis athletic director Ed Scott said the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovation remains “on budget and on time,” to be completed in time for this football season.

Scott provided several updates on the $226.5 million project during a media availability on Tuesday, June 16.

Memphis’ first home game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in the 2026 season is against Arkansas State University on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. This is the first season for the U of M under new head coach Charles Huff.

The U of M continues to make progress in fundraising toward the $50 million donation match from the Fred Smith family. The school is about $6 million from reaching that goal, Scott said.

“We're up over just $41 million now,” Scott said. “We have two verbal gifts out that are currently with Legal, and once those get signed, we'll be just about [at] $44 million. … We've made really good progress in the last couple of years, thanks to our supporters and to our rev-gen team as I like to call them.”

Construction on the Liberty Stadium renovation began in the summer of 2024. The venue's capacity is set to be reduced from 58,000 to 45,632.

Scott confirmed that the Landers Plaza would have a capacity of 3,000. In March, the school reached a naming rights agreement with Landers Auto Group for the new plaza on Liberty Stadium’s west side.

Landers Auto Group is one of the largest private companies in the Memphis area, with $592.6 million in revenue for 2024, according to MBJ research.

The plaza is open to any attendee with seats in the new West Tower and those sitting in seats below the plaza. Those sitting in other areas of the stadium need to buy a wristband to access the plaza.

Among other changes to the stadium project are larger scoreboards, a new audio system, and an outdoor lighting system.

The north tunnel renovation would be the last item completed before the project concludes.  

Scott added that 74% of the new West Tower premium seating has been sold.

For now, the nearly renovated stadium has not led to a surge in season tickets. Scott said Memphis remains roughly in a similar place compared to the same time a year ago.

“I expect, like many things in Memphis, our crowd is late-arriving,” Scott said. “I expect that if we do our part that the crowd will show up. We just have to show them that the stadium is actually going to come to fruition, because there's been a lot of things in Memphis that have been said that haven't been executed. I think at least during my tenure, anything that I told you we were going to do, we have done, and so I'm going to stand firm on that. As we get closer to the season, I think we'll see an uptake [in ticket sales].”