Ben Hill Griffin Stadium has been used by Florida since opening in 1930; it replaced Fleming Field. It was originally named Florida Field (or Stadium) but was renamed in 1989 to honor Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., a local citrus magnate and team benefactor. In 2016, it was renamed Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Overall, NC State had a record of 0-2 at this field.

  * Non-conference games

As Florida's athletics grew into prominence in the 1920s, their existing athletic field lagged behind, leading the team to play several of its higher-profile games in Jacksonville and Tampa as more and more schools refused to play at their on-campus digs. Hoping to bring those games back to Gainesville, Florida officials began efforts to build a new venue as the 1920s drew to a close. Eventually, an undeveloped shallow ravine to the north of campus, adjacent to Fleming Field, was selected. The grounds were and remain athletic in nature: just adjacent to Fleming Field was the campus's original venue, Murphree Field. Construction began in April 1930 with the hopes of opening prior to the start of the coming football season.

Following their 10/25/1930 game against Furman (which the Gators lost 13-14), old Fleming Field was abandoned as a football venue; its iron goalposts were relocated to the new Florida Field. The new $118,000 (about $2.25 million in 2024) field, which had an initial capacity of 21,769, was unique in its layout: the plant was constructed with straight borders rather than being shaped in the form of a bowl or horseshoe, as typical at that time. This, plus the decision to locate the track to the open south end (rather than inside the venue) allowed the stands to be located remarkably close to the surface of the playing field. A second space-saving element of the field was the decision to put the teams in dug-outs beneath the bleachers [1].

Florida Field was was dedicated on November 8th, 1930, with a game between Florida and Alabama which the Gators lost 20-to-nothing. It was Orange and Blue's only home game of the season: though they had a swanky new field, Florida had financial commitments to their old friends elsewhere in the state. While games were held elsewhere in 1930 for construction reasons -- several games earlier in the season were played at either on the road, at neutral sites (NC State, for example, played Florida at Tampa's Plant Field that season), or at Fleming Field -- the university maintained a commitment to hosting games further afield, either because of fiduciary promises to other cities (in particular Jacksonville's Fairfield Stadium), or uncertainty if fans would travel to Gainesville [2].

Starting in the mid-April 1950, the stadium was renovated, adding permanent lighting, a new press box, and a second deck along the west side of the field. The announcement was made concurrent with the decision to play all Southeastern Conference (SEC) games on a home-and-home basis, excepting their Georgia tilt, which has been played annually in Jacksonville every year (except 1994 and 1995) since 1933; nonconference games could remain at neutral sites, and often did through the 1980s, hosting games in either Jacksonville or at Tampa's Plant Field. Though 13,000 seats were constructed, the capacity was only raised to 38,000 once temporary stands supplementing the field were removed. Work ran slightly behind due to a union strike, but was ultimately largely complete by the time the season started. In 1956, the east stands were enlarged (though remaining single-decked) to allow 41,360 fans to watch the Gators; two seasons later, about 1,500 bleacher seats were added to the south endzone, pushing the capacity to 43,000 [3].

As the 1950s turned to the 1960s, the Gators began itching for a new addition. While plans were put in motion as soon as 1963, major work did not occur until 1966. Florida briefly satiated themselves by tearing down those decade-old temporary bleachers put in the south endzone and replacing them with 5,600 seats, pushing the venue to 47,800 seats. And by December 1966, work had begun on replacing the old single-level eastern bleachers with a double-decker unit matching that of the west side. Built as a combined bleacher-dormitory-cafeteria, work unfortunately fell behdind schedule, forcing Florida to open their season sans 4,000 seats. After two home games in a half-finished stadium, the revamped venue was in full action in time for their October 29th date hosting Auburn, when the full 56,000 seats were ready; the very next season, more seats were added to the south endzone to bump capacity to 60,000 [4].

The stadium held pat for several years, though it did receive artificial turf for the first time. Concurrently, the plant's lighting system, installed in 1950, was replaced. In 1982, after a half-decade of toying with the idea, the south side of the bowl was finally completed. That same year, long-time legislator and local citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., donated land adjacent to the stadium for the construction of a football training center. The 1982 work was exceptional: expected to take 18 months, construction was finished in a third of the time, allowing the stands to open in their entirety before the start of the season -- almost. The final 2,000 seats of the new 72,000 seat plant were completed, but not yet sold [5].

In 1989, Florida Field was renamed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in honor of the same long-time who had donated space for the practice fields a few years before. The following season, the artificial turf was replaced with sod again, and the next season, the north endzone had a second deck added to match the surrounding stadium, pushing capacity to 83,000 persons. It was last expanded before the 2003 season, when club seats and luxury boxes were added to the east and west sides of the stadium, pushing the seating to 88,548 persons [6].

Photos of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium