Michigan State's Spartan Stadium upgrades are planned for completion by 2029, with a projected cost of around $500 million. Athletic Director J Batt confirmed that the football team will continue to play during construction.
Key points
Spartan Stadium upgrades projected to finish by 2029
Estimated cost of upgrades is around $500 million
Football team will play during construction
Part of a $4 billion capital campaign
$1.9 billion raised so far
Mentioned in this story
Michigan State UniversityJ BattKevin Guskiewicz
MotorCity CasinoMichigan State Spartans
Upgrades to Spartan Stadium are in the planning phases and projected to be finished by 2029, Michigan State athletic director J Batt said Friday, May 8.
However, Batt said he anticipates the Spartansâ football team will be able to play through the construction when it gets underway â whenever that might be.
âWe still have a lot of dollars to raise,â Batt told the Detroit Economic Club at MotorCity Casino.
Funding the project, which Batt said will cost in the $500 million range, is a major part of both President Kevin Guskiewiczâs $4 billion âUncommon Will, Far Better Worldâ capital campaign. Guskiewicz told business leaders that MSU is nearing the halfway mark toward that goal, with $1.9 billion raised so far.
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz, left, listens as MSU Athletic Director J Batt during a panel discussion hosted by the Lansing Economic Club on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz, left, listens as MSU Athletic Director J Batt during a panel discussion hosted by the Lansing Economic Club on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Batt, who is approaching his one-year anniversary on the job, said he has spent a significant amount of time in his new position working to create the Spartan Ventures nonprofit and to find new streams of revenue. The launch for that is July 1, and Batt said the mission is to raise revenue to support the entire athletic department during the ever-changing college sports landscape and to help bring along the latest round of upgrades for the football stadium that originally was built in 1923.
Q&A
What is the estimated cost of the Spartan Stadium upgrades?
The upgrades to Spartan Stadium are projected to cost around $500 million.
When are the Spartan Stadium upgrades expected to be completed?
The upgrades are projected to be finished by 2029.
Will the Michigan State football team play during the stadium construction?
Yes, Athletic Director J Batt stated that the football team will be able to play through the construction.
How much funding has been raised for the 'Uncommon Will, Far Better World' campaign?
As of now, $1.9 billion has been raised toward the $4 billion goal of the capital campaign.
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âThereâs lot of ideas,â Batt said. âI think youâve seen some of the renderings that have been out. There are a lot of priorities. I think Spartan Stadium is an incredible game-day experience, we just need to evolve it and update it.â
Guskiewicz is pushing for a âSpartan Stadium Districtâ next to the stadium in the space where IM West, which will be demolished, is currently. That plan would include hotels and restaurants in a public-private partnership in the center of the campus. Guskiewicz also said it could include new student housing options, and he hopes to have more concrete plans to the MSU Board of Trustees sometime in the next four to five months.
âItâs about how do you get people back to campus as often as possible,â Guskiewicz said. âItâs not just about hockey, basketball and football. Itâs about creating a district there that creates the athletics opportunities with the rest of campus.â
Increasing premium seating at Spartan Stadium is one of Battâs goals with the renovations, along with âinvesting in the game-day experience.â He joked that he âmay or may not get an email occasionallyâ from fans complaining about the audio and visual barrage during the games, so altering the sound system is another part of the project.
A lot of increasing the money flow goes back to the growing costs of running major college athletic departments, including now having to share that revenue with the athletes. Batt, a former college soccer player at Virginia who arrived after running the athletic department at Georgia Tech, delivered a stark assessment of where he feels his industry is heading over the next decade without finding new streams of funding.
Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, left, talks with MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz during the Spartans men's basketball game against Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, left, talks with MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz during the Spartans men's basketball game against Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
âI think the current state of college athletics is unsustainable. I think thatâs a hard thing to say,â he said. âBut the reality is weâre in a period of constant change. College athletics has changed more fundamentally in the last five years than it has in the last 50. And that runs the gamut from the advent of unlimited transfers and the proliferation of transfer portal usage to the advent of (Name, Image and Likeness).â
With the House settlement taking effect last year to require revenue sharing with athletes, Batt and other leaders helped create the College Sports Commission to become a regulatory body. However, Batt â who was part of the NCAAâs House Settlement Implementation Committee â said that has not yet happened.
âI think the hope was that the advent of the College Sports Commission, some of the regulation around that would create really a sustainable go-forward,â he said. âAnd the reality is that has not happened.â
Batt said he remains for athletes getting a share of revenue. However, he also is seeing âthe escalation of dollars and sense of student athletesâ has âcreated a tremendous amount of pressure on the modelâ of college athletics.
Michigan State University Athletic Director J Batt, right, speaks on stage with MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz during a panel discussion hosted by the Lansing Economic Club on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Michigan State University Athletic Director J Batt, right, speaks on stage with MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz during a panel discussion hosted by the Lansing Economic Club on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Batt said that model âhas never been more stressed.â
âHolistically, everything from what it requires of our student-athletes, our coaches, certainly the financial pressures created across the industry,â he said. âThose will have to evolve. The way in which that becomes governed, regulated, whatever the right answer for that is, those will have to evolve. And those things will create two things â hopefully some sustainability long-term, but also opportunity. Opportunity to find innovation on our campus, innovation in our league.
âItâs certainly a good place to be in the Big Ten as we traverse change. ⊠I think at the end of the day, constant change is our reality. So those are near-term, mid-term and long-term changes, some more acute than others. But itâs really important that we continue to evolve to get to a better place.â
Both Batt and Guskiewicz touched on a number of athletics-related topics during and after their hour-long presentation:
Michigan State fans arrive at one of the entrances for the second game of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional versus Connecticut at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
College basketball fans watch the Duke versus St. Johnâs game on one of several TVâs at Clydeâs Alley Bar next door to the Capital One Arena in Washington DC where the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional is being played on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State forward Cameron Ward arrives off the team bus with his teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Former Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio walks ahead of the Michigan State basketball team for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State center Carson Cooper arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo arrives off the team bus at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo arrives off the team bus at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State fans arrive at one of the entrances for the second game of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional versus Connecticut at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State fans arrive at one of the entrances for the second game of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional versus Connecticut at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
College basketball fans watch the Duke versus St. Johnâs game on one of several TVâs at Clydeâs Alley Bar next door to the Capital One Arena in Washington DC where the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional is being played on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State forward Cameron Ward arrives off the team bus with his teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Former Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio walks ahead of the Michigan State basketball team for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State center Carson Cooper arrives off the team bus with his Michigan State teammates at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo arrives off the team bus at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
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Michigan State basketball tips off with UConn in Sweet 16 in D.C.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo arrives off the team bus at 8 pm for their 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.
J Batt on College Football Playoff and NCAA basketball tournament expansion:
âI certainly applaud the NCAA for continuing to find ways in which to increase opportunities. At Michigan State, weâre focused in on maybe the second, third and fourth weekends (of the NCAA Tournament) to win championships and be in Final Fours. But I certainly applaud the NCAA around the tournament, trying to add opportunity.
âI would say on the expansion of the (College Football Playoff), Iâm fully supportive of going to 24 (teams). Thatâs an important evolution that provides more access, particularly access to the best leagues and those that have the best opportunities.â
Guskiewicz on the potential for expansion of the Big Ten beyond 18 schools:
âIn the Big Ten, since we brought in four schools ⊠from the West Coast, we have had very few if any conversations as a group of 18 presidents and chancellors on that council. I think itâs probably halted for a while. We have to see how the House settlement is going to play out, we havenât even finished the first year of that, that was July 1 of this past year (with) the revenue share and I think that weâre committed to see how that plays out and what it means to each of our individual schools in terms of their expenses at the end of every year and the conference in what that looks like.
âIt could change in the next 2-3 years, probably closer to 3-4 (years) as weâre renegotiating the next media contract. But I think itâs halted for now.â
Batt on corporate sponsorship for MSUâs major arenas:
âThatâs a good question. What I would tell you is weâre open for business. Whether itâs jersey patches, field logos, floor logos in Breslin â if you have a business and youâre interested, Jared Kozinn (MSUâs new deputy AD/chief revenue/marketing officer) is here. ⊠We are actively having conversations with many of the companies and businesses here in the room and throughout the region about how do we do that. It comes back to being forward thinking and creating new opportunities for revenue.
âI think itâs really important that whatever those brands are we affiliate with Michigan State ⊠we want it to be the right brand, we want it to be the right partner. It matters. I think it takes careful consideration, and those are partnerships that will stand the test of time. Itâs not simply slap a logo down, thatâs hollow ground. Weâll do it the right way.â
Batt on potential for five years of eligibility for athletes:
âThatâs an important initiative in that we create some sustainability around how in which we look at student-athlete eligibility. Obviously, itâs something thatâs been challenged a lot, whether itâs in court, over the last couple of years (with) some different, interesting situations. So at least itâs a step in the right direction towards creating sustainability and some clarity there.â