TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The University of South Florida’s hopes of getting its own football stadium are one step closer to becoming reality.

On Friday, the Florida Board of Governors’ facilities committee approved a request for financing to help pay for a football stadium on its Tampa campus, meaning the team, which currently plays at Raymond James Stadium, could be on their own field in about three years.

The school is seeking $200 million for the $340 million project.

The full Board of Governors will vote on the request at a later date.

The lender, Truist Bank quoted an interest rate of 7% on the loan, which the school plans to pay off using revenue from tickets. They would need more than 30,000 people to attend each home game. The new stadium would seat around 35,000 people.

Some at USF have criticized the school’s request for funding.

“We haven’t had enough money to do our basic operations and the concern is we now have to start supporting this from those funds,” Associate Professor Dr. Timothy Boaz said. “I think people would see that as a big problem.”

School officials said crews will likely start building the stadium next year and finish construction in 2026.

This story is developing and will be updated.