LOS ANGELES – USC broke ground Thursday on the Bloom Football Performance Center, following the announcement of a $50 million gift from the Ronald H. Bloom family.
A state-of-the-art training facility, the Bloom Football Performance Center will serve as the new home of Trojan Football and allow USC Athletics to reimagine the John McKay Center to best serve its entire student-athlete population. It is also the centerpiece of the Athletics West capital projects, which include the construction of a new stadium for USC Baseball at Dedeaux Field and a golf program practice area.
To date, five Cornerstone gifts of $10 million or more have lifted the fundraising total for the Athletics West projects to $157 million. These generous contributions include gifts from the Bloom Family, the Argyros Family Foundation, Robert and Perri Bishop, the Chad and Cari Peets Family, and others. In total, more than 30 contributors have helped push USC past 75% of the project's $200 million fundraising goal.
"Athletics West is an incredibly transformative project that will serve our student-athletes, coaches, and staff for years to come," said Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics Jen Cohen. "USC's competitive spirit, passed down by generations of Trojans whose legacies still inspire our efforts, is unrivaled, and these projects, including the Bloom Football Performance Center, will continue to position USC Athletics among the nation's elite. We are so incredibly grateful to the Bloom family and to all our generous donors who have made significant gifts to these projects, and we look forward to other supporters joining us as we work towards our fundraising goal."
The Bloom Football Performance Center, scheduled to open in summer 2026, includes two full-length outdoor practice fields – one turf and one natural grass – and a three-story building featuring state-of-the-art spaces dedicated to helping USC's student-athletes reach their fullest potential in all aspects of life.
At more than 160,000 square feet, the facility more than doubles the total square footage for the football program. The lobby will showcase USC's 11 national championships and eight Heisman Trophies – the most of any program in the country – and will include a space honoring the Trojans' 176 All-Americans.
The first floor will house an expanded and best-in-class locker room and players' lounge, with additional state-of-the-art spaces for sports medicine, nutrition, recovery, sports science and a weight room with direct access to the turf field. The second floor will include a technology-enhanced walk-through room, a new team meeting room and position meetings rooms, as well as creative media and branding suites, an NFL alumni locker room, a space for NFL scouts and a recruiting terrace overlooking the practice fields.
"USC offers the best of the best; from academics to location to athletics, it's first-class in every way. Now, we will have the football facility to match," said C. & J. Elerding Head Football Coach Lincoln Riley. "With the continually evolving demands of college football, this facility is going to be on the cutting-edge of sports science, media, recovery and nutrition, with top-of-the-line resources to offer our student-athletes. It's going to be the perfect home for our team."
Thursday's groundbreaking and historic announcement marked critical next steps in the Athletics West capital project. Above-ground construction is scheduled for early 2025, with the football program tentatively slated to move in by summer 2026, ahead of a season that features home contests against Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, Maryland and Fresno State.
Additionally, football's move into the Bloom Football Performance Center will free up space inside the John McKay Center, which will be reimagined and utilized to serve all Trojan student-athletes from the 23 varsity athletics programs.
"Today is an important day for USC, but our work is not yet done," said Cohen. "We have more than $40 million remaining to raise for this project, and our staff continues to reach out to prospective donors who believe in our mission and who support our student-athletes. I am confident that the Trojan Family will come through, and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead for USC Athletics."
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