USC breaks ground on state-of-the-art Bloom Football Performance Center

USC President Carol Folt unveiled the state-of-the-art Ronald H. Bloom Football Performance Center on Thursday, a 160,000-square-foot complex that will serve as the new home of Trojan football. The Bloom Football Performance Center is the latest investment in Folt’s athletics “moonshot,” a strategic vision to position USC Athletics for sustained excellence with new and upgraded facilities and enhanced academic support, ensuring Trojan student-athletes compete at the highest levels on the field and in the classroom.

The football center brings total investments in athletics facilities to more than $200 million as part of the moonshot, the most transformational era of athletics facilities upgrading and expansion in university history.

At an event with more than 200 Trojan supporters, university leaders and staff, coaches and student-athletes, Folt and others broke ground on the Bloom Football Performance Center, set to open in summer 2026. It will feature two full-length outdoor practice fields, one of which players can access directly from the three-level facility, a locker room, a recovery space, areas for nutrition and training, a team auditorium and meeting rooms. Construction is set to begin in January.

Renderings reveal a cutting-edge facility for USC football that will set a new standard among top college programs. 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.

Paired with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, one of the most historic and iconic stadiums in the world, the Bloom Football Performance Center will link a modern standard of performance excellence with the rich history and heritage of the Trojan football program.

Folt shared that the center will be named after Ronald H. Bloom in honor of his $50 million gift. She was joined by members of the football team and the USC Trojan Marching Band as a banner unfurled to reveal the new name of the center.

“This beautiful new home has a champion for it. … This is a champion who truly bleeds Cardinal and Gold, a champion whose name is featured in so many places,” Folt said. “This is an amazing celebration for USC, the Bloom family and all our generous donors. We just thank all of you.”

Bloom has been a supporter of USC for the better part of 70 years, helping to grow USC Athletics, expand cancer research and create iconic landmarks on campus. Sitting with his wife, Lois, and other family members, Bloom looked on, beaming, as Folt, athletic director Jennifer Cohen and head football coach Lincoln Riley announced that the new performance center would bear his name, a testament to his devotion to a program that brings him and his family so much joy.

“I know that our athletic director, Jen Cohen, and her incredible experience will really make this thing happen and go forward, and coach Riley, with this state-of-the-art center, make our football program the greatest in the country,” Bloom said.

The new $200 million facility is made entirely possible by philanthropy. In addition to the Bloom family, other generous Trojan Family donors include the Argyros Family Foundation, Bob and Perri Bishop, the Chad and Cari Peets family, and additional anonymous donors.

“My favorite part of the USC experience is its sense of family,” said USC Trustee Stephanie Argyros, who serves as co-CEO for the Argyros Family Foundation alongside her sister, Lisa Argyros. “I’m thrilled we could contribute to the growth of our student-athletes and do our part to bring more families together for exciting USC football games in the future.”

“I’ve always loved the USC football program,” said Bob Bishop, who founded the hedge fund Impala Asset Management. “This performance center will help the Trojans be a highly competitive team in the expanded Big Ten. I’m happy to be a part of this community effort.”

“We’re thrilled to invest in a world-class facility that will provide the USC Trojan football program with remarkable resources for student-athletes, coaches and staff to achieve success,” Chad Peets said.

The next era of Trojan athletics

The construction of the Bloom Football Performance Center arrives during one of the largest shifts in USC Athletics: USC’s move to the Big Ten Conference. In 2022, Folt and then-athletic director Mike Bohn made the historic decision to join the Big Ten. Leading the charge into the new era of Trojan athletics is Cohen, whom Folt hired in 2023. Cohen, widely considered one of the nation’s best athletic directors, is the first woman to hold the athletic director position at USC.

“The fact that our incredible Trojan donors jumped in fast has made our vision move forward so quickly,” Folt said. “Their generous gifts towards these important facility projects are critical to ensuring our athletes will compete with the best in the Big Ten. Trojan ambitions and expectations for excellence are high, and we are still in a campaign to complete not only our football plans, but other critical athletic and student support facilities. Thankfully we have the vision of Jen Cohen to push this ahead.”

“What makes today so special is: Today is more than a groundbreaking,” Cohen said Thursday morning. “Today is one of those days where we get to celebrate the people behind the project. We’re celebrating the Trojan Family. We’re celebrating our togetherness. We’re celebrating and inspired by the reminder that when really generous and committed people come together that anything is possible.”

The new football complex is part of the athletics facility vision, a donor-funded effort that includes major renovations, upgrades and new facilities to provide student-athletes with spaces for training, recovery and development. Thus far, the university has received more than $203 million in philanthropic gifts for these improvements. They include:

• Rawlinson Stadium: Announced in June 2023, this new home for USC women’s lacrosse and soccer teams will feature a capacity of 2,500 for game days and include spectator viewing decks and social spaces, a state-of-the-art press box, dedicated locker rooms, a box office, concession stands and a formal entry plaza. The new stadium was made possible by a gift from the Fritz B. Burns Foundation, support from Folt’s presidential fund and other generous donors.
• USC baseball: The new baseball stadium will have a capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 with such fan experience enhancements as new seating options, multiple social spaces and concession locations, a video board and an audio system. A new press box, coaching and support staff offices, indoor batting cages and a pitching lab will also be added for the 2026 season.
• Galen Center: The home of USC’s basketball and volleyball teams received major upgrades on and off the court thanks to an allocation from Folt’s presidential fund gifts. The Galen Center features a new lounge and a renovated Founders’ Club, among other improvements.
• Colich Track & Field Center: Opened in 2021, the Colich Center serves as the new home of the men’s and women’s national champion track and field programs and houses an impressive hall of fame celebrating the success of Trojan track and field members in NCAA championships and Olympics. In 2023, Folt renamed the track field after Allyson Felix to honor the alumna who is the most decorated Olympic track and field athlete in U.S. history.

In addition, recent renovations to the Coliseum, as well as future renovations to the John McKay Center and an upgraded golf practice facility, demonstrate USC’s holistic commitment to sustained excellence across all 23 athletic programs.

“Every gift matters, and philanthropy to a college athletic department is everything,” Cohen said. “It gives us the competitive edge. Everything you see on this beautiful campus, everything you see around our athletic department, every great experience we’ve had, coaches we’ve hired, teams that have won, donors are standing by our side in that moment.”

Thursday’s event comes nearly three years after USC head football coach Lincoln Riley accepted the responsibility of leading the Trojans into a new era, a point Riley brought up during his remarks.

“When we took the job here at USC, there was excitement about obviously what had happened here before, and the tremendous history at this university and in this football program — but the real excitement was what we felt like this could be if we could really find everything that is here together and truly build it the right way,” Riley said. “Today’s very symbolic of that to me.”

A Trojan for life

Bloom graduated in 1955 with a degree in public administration from what is now the USC Price School of Public Policy. He said most of his fondest memories centered on Trojan football games, whether he was just attending or building floats for the games with his fraternity brothers.

“When you meet someone from the Trojan Family, you have the ability to discuss things and have a warmth immediately,” said Bloom, the founder of Crown Associates Realty Inc., an industrial real estate and property management company. “You have an immediate feeling of response, of awareness, of wanting to understand each other and be a part of togetherness.”

Bloom’s history of giving back to the university started with the naming of Bloom Walk and the adjacent rose garden and benches on the University Park Campus. He established two chairs at Keck Medicine of USC, started donating to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1996, and has served on the Board of Councilors for the USC Roski School of Art and Design.

Bloom’s legacy at his alma mater also includes the Bloom Family Tunnel (No. 6) at the Coliseum; the Bloom seating section at the Galen Center’s center court; the Family Study Room in Heritage Hall, where he is also a founder; an endowed scholarship for the fullback position; sculptures along Bloom Walk between the gerontology center and Mudd Hall of Philosophy; and the Bloom Hall of Fame Walk, along the street adjoining the John McKay Center. The Bloom family also gifted the bronze George Tirebiter sculpture and bench on Trousdale Parkway at Bloom Walk.

“I’ve seen some ups and downs with USC football,” Bloom said Thursday morning. “I’ve been privileged to be here with the McKay era, the Robinson era and the Carroll era. I know that [the] coach Riley era will bring us the same great times.”

At 91 years old, Bloom has more memories with USC than most. Now, the Bloom name will help usher in a new era of USC football.

“It is state-of-the-art, and it’s going to compete with the finest facilities that are available to collegiate athletics,” Bloom said. “We have great athletes now, but this facility will bring about recruiting that should be substantial. One of the elements that made me want to give this [gift] was the fact that tomorrow’s football program will be enhanced by my contribution to it.”