Entertainment district concepts are popping up in SEC towns. Could UGA follow?

ATHENS — UGA athletic director Josh Brooks is keeping an open mind in regard to the creative usage for open land near the University of Georgia.

Brooks, operating in his sixth year as the Bulldogs’ AD, has taken note of planning for entertainment districts — some inspired by The Battery at Truist Park — at other SEC schools.

The Battery generated approximately $137 million in revenue in 2025, including $97.4 million in revenue for the Braves, with a total of nearly $40 million in tax revenue, per the Marietta Daily Journal.

Tennessee, notably, recently released plans for a $280 million entertainment district planned between Neyland Stadium and its nearby Food City Center basketball arena.

The Vols’ district, per a Knoxville News Sentinel report, will generate a guaranteed base rent of $1.5 million for the university.

Tennessee will also collect between 3% and 5% of gross operating revenues exceeding $25 million annually from entertainment, condo and hotel spaces.

There are other SEC schools with ongoing entertainment district-related construction and planning, including Oklahoma, LSU, Ole Miss and Kentucky.

Georgia is not yet on that list — and there are no immediate plans for that to change, Brooks said — but UGA remains open to possibilities.

“It’s still far away right now; I don’t think we have anything immediate,” Brooks said. There’s nothing (space wise) in the footprint of Sanford Stadium. That area is very tight, and it’s in the middle of our campus.

“I don’t think (an entertainment district) fits like it does in some of the places where they’ve done more, that are more closer to the cities.”

That said, Brooks notes the school does have land south of campus where it has developed a $59.8 million, 37-acre state-of-the-art track facility across the street from UGA’s Jack Turner Stadium (softball) and Turner Soccer Complex.

“We’ve always opened our minds as we look at land usage and continued to develop on South Milledge Avenue, always asking the question of what’s possible,” Brooks said.

“I’m a never say never kind of guy, but you have to be respectful of your campus and community in terms of seeing what fits.”

The entertainment districts are an example of the non-traditional fundraising efforts schools are turning to in the challenging times of providing money to secure elite talent in football programs while maintaining women’s and Olympic sports programs.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports Tennessee’s mixed-use sports entertainment district will include a condo-hotel overlooking the stadium, a rooftop bar, restaurants and fan experiences.

Brooks said Georgia will continue to look closely at how it can update its existing facilities to utilize for non-sports events that could generate revenue.

“We’ve got these phenomenal facilities, Stegeman Coliseum, Sanford Stadium and Foley Field, and you think about how we can program these things out, whether it’s concerts or other activities,” Brooks said. “

“The concert was successful,” Brooks said, referring to the April 24 “Live Between the Hedges” concert at Sanford Stadium featuring Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Zach Top and Lauren Alaina.

“It’s definitely something we’ll do more of in the future, as well as being open to other sporting events, whether that’s an outside soccer match, or maybe something else that can move the needle.