$5.6M building permit filed for new stadium on U of M campus

By Omer Yusuf – Reporter, Memphis Business Journal

March 11, 2026

The University of Memphis athletic department recently surpassed its fundraising goal for a key project.

U of M athletic director Ed Scottsaid the school reached its fundraising target for Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium. 

Memphis has closed on $8.37 million in gifts for the project, reaching its initial goal of $8 million. The school has closed on 256 individual gifts at an average of $32,677, according to the U of M Board of Trustees' March 4 meeting documents.

The total project cost is estimated at $12.4 million, according to Scott in a previous interview with MBJ.

This came after Memphis launched the Liza’s Light University of Memphis Soccer and Track Stadium Fund in August 2024. The new stadium is set to be home to the school’s men’s and women’s soccer teams and track and field squads.

The U of M has not announced an anticipated completion date for the project. Memphis’ current Billy J. Murphy Soccer and Track & Field Complex is located on the school’s Park Avenue Campus. 

Scott also announced a change to the project at the U of M Board of Trustees' March meeting.

“The original plan was only for women's soccer to have their locker room and team room in that facility,” Scott said. “When I got here [as athletic director], we wanted to see if we can include men's soccer and do it all at once.”

He said because the school has $237.5 million athletic department-related construction projects, Memphis pivoted from its initial plan.

“We made the decision to leave the men's soccer locker room where it is and renovate that locker room,” Scott said. “What will happen is that Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium will be the training facility of men's and women's soccer, but the home of women's soccer, so the men's soccer team will have access to the film room and the training room.”

The project's first phase calls for a new soccer and track stadium grandstand, press box, and women’s soccer locker room.

Future phases of the project include the completion of new team areas for men's soccer and track and field, with the improvements benefiting more than 100 U of M student-athletes across the sports.