TEMPE – The Arizona State football program’s new practice facility will be more than a place for the team to hone its craft. Coach Kenny Dillingham and athletic director Graham Rossini believe the project signals a cultural shift for Sun Devil football.
And fans will be a part of that culture shift.
Much of the current tailgating scene at ASU games is located in the shaded parking garage south of the stadium across Veterans Way, with the top floor providing about 2.5 acres of space. The addition of the new facility, whose plans were unveiled in February, will nearly double the tailgating area around the stadium with indoor space alone. Factor in the additional field outside the facility and the new set-up will radically transform the fan experience.
“College football is not just about coaching,” Dillingham said. “It’s about getting a community involved. One thing we’ve struggled with here, because it’s hot and it’s asphalt, is to tailgate. Unless you are a diehard person, you are not tailgating on asphalt. And nobody should blame you for that.”
The initial cost of the facility was estimated at around $26 million. In July 2025, Dillingham made public comments about wanting an indoor fan experience similar to the 16th hole of the Waste Management Open. In December 2025, he straight-up asked a multimillion-dollar donor to step up and fund the indoor facility, and he landed one that led to a $55 million facility.
The donation came from an anonymous group that will be revealed at a groundbreaking ceremony in the late spring or early summer of 2026. ASU initially planned to begin construction in January 2027, but the project was expedited due to the donation. It is expected to be completed in time for the team to use the facilities for their spring season in 2028.
The location alone is enough for the facilities to immediately be useful for the program at a time when Dillingham wants to focus on efficiency; doing the same amount of work in less time. As a whole, the fully air-conditioned facility will feature over 100,000 square feet of turf fields.
One field will be fully inside, there’s an additional half-field covered, and another full field outside. The facility will also include amenities on the far northeast side for volleyball. There’s even a fan zone with a sports-bar-like atmosphere for use on game days, with the ability to host youth football events, which is in keeping with ASU’s recent focus on making its athletic facilities public assets.
Moving out of the 17-year-old Verde Dickey Dome makes sense for those efficiency reasons. It sits more than a quarter-mile away from the stadium. Dillingham has called walkthroughs a “bad use of time,” where it often takes longer to get players and other personnel to the practice facility than it would take to actually execute the walkthrough.
“Every minute in a football day is important,” Rossini said. “So having the convenience where the facility is going be in Lot 59, adjacent to Mountain America Stadium, is really important.”
Players would not have to walk across a single street to reach their new facility, which will be built in what is currently a parking lot located just northeast of the stadium off Rio Salado Parkway and Packard Drive.
In addition, the plan is for the players and band to walk through the facilities on game day with the fans inside, creating what Dillingham called “an affinity” for the program.
“That’s something that gives people that are dipping their toe in ASU football. … ‘What do I do on Saturday? I go to the game? No, I go down there at 9 a.m … I hang out with my buddies, then I go to the game,’” Dillingham said.
“That is the next step that the top programs in the country have. Top programs in the country, you’re not taking over 5-to-9 … you take over Saturday.
“It can create an affinity approach that really can take, ‘OK, we’re selling out crowds … we’re talked about on that national stage.’… That’s the next step in the process to make this a diehard, ASU-Saturday town, and that’s what you need to sustain success in college football.”
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