JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars this week released a comprehensive report that addresses some of the key questions that came up during a series of town hall meetings held by the team last month.
The questions involve everything from parking and the possible timeline for the proposed stadium renovation to where the team could play while changes are made and whether or not the team will continue to play games in London.
You can read the entire report at the bottom of this story, but here are the Jaguars’ responses to some of the key takeaways:
What will happen to parking?
“With the goal of creating a downtown development catalyst on portions of the parking lots west of the stadium, surface parking for Jaguars games will be impacted. To what degree depends on the agreement negotiated between the private and public parties and where the University of Florida chooses to build their downtown graduate campus. We will implement a multifaceted plan to help offset the impact on surface parking. The plan consists of the following elements:
1) Look for opportunities to create new parking spaces within the new development. This will be focused on structured parking integrated into the development.
2) Continue to work with JTA to have a robust public transportation plan featuring the planned downtown automated urban transportation connector and expanding the regional shuttle bus program.
3) Significantly improve the infrastructure necessary to support ride sharing offerings.
4) Create a local shuttle program to make it easier for fans to get from remote surface lots to the stadium.
The Jaguars have engaged a parking consultant and will be publishing a more detailed parking report to our customers once we have a more definitve agreement with the city. The good news is there is currently excess surface parking on lots further away from the stadium that are used for the Florida/Georgia game but not for Jaguars games.”
What about season ticket holder priority?
“Season ticket seniority will be frozen at the end of the season that proceeds any season when Jaguar games will be played at a location other than TIAA Bank Field. Season ticket holders will not be required to purchase season tickets for Jaguar games played outside Jacksonville or in Jacksonville at a temporary facility.
Season ticket holders will be offered their same seating location in the new stadium. If the same seat location no longer exists, the season ticket holder will be offered the most comparable location.”
Location and two-year vs. four-year renovation process
“One of the most spirited debates during the Community Huddle process was the renovation approach, a two-year ‘continuous renovation’ process or a four-year ‘stop and start’ renovation process. The biggest difference between the two alternative approaches is the cost of the renovation and the potential displacement of Jaguar games. The two-year process is the least expensive approach but will require Jaguar games be played at an alternative location(s) for two NFL seasons. The four-year “stop and start” renovation will allow the Jaguar games to be played in the stadium while under renovation but will increase total costs by $190MM. The Jaguars believe the stadium renovations should proceed in the most efficient, least disruptive, and least expensive manner. To this end, the Jaguars recommend the two-year process but acknowledge this will likely be a part of the negotiations with the public sector. It should be noted that ultimately the NFL and NFL owners by a 75% majority must approve any renovation schedule and temporary location for Jaguar games.
In the event Jaguar games must be played temporarily at an alternative site(s), we have considered several alternatives. These alternative sites can be placed into one of two categories – “Nearly NFL Ready” or “Temporary Alternatives”.
Preliminary discussions have been held with the following locations: “Nearly NFL Ready” locations like UF in Gainesville and Camping World Stadium in Orlando; and “Temporary Alternatives” like Hodges Stadium at UNF, Baseball Grounds in Jacksonville and Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach.
Like the two vs. four-year renovation process discussions, these two different categories have important trade-offs. The “Nearly NFL Ready” options are the most cost efficient but result in games being moved out of Jacksonville. The “temporary alternatives” during the two-year stadium renovation process require significant investment to get the facilities to NFL standards but (in the case of the University of North Florida and the Baseball Grounds options) will keep Jaguar games in Jacksonville during the two-year stadium renovation process. In addition to the increased expense, the University of North Florida and Baseball Grounds solutions identified would only provide 30,000 seats.”
What will happen to the annual London game?
“While we assume the future of our annual London game will be a part of our lease negotiations, it is important to take a step back and recognize the annual London game has provided tangible benefits to both the City of Jacksonville and the Jaguars. As part of the Chamber’s annual London trade mission scheduled around the Jaguars London game, new jobs have been created in Jacksonville. In addition, the awareness of Jacksonville has been positively impacted by this international outreach. The Jaguars have also benefited from our London initiative both in terms of revenue and building the Jaguars brand. Our London initiative has been a win-win for both the City of Jacksonville and the Jaguars for 10+ years.”
Natural grass vs. artificial turf?
“The goal of the Stadium of the Future is to have the safest playing surface for our players. Current conventional wisdom suggests that a natural grass surface is preferable to an artificial turf field. Advancements continue to be made in turf technology with current artificial turf fields performing significantly better than their predecessors. The final decision on the type of field will need to be made around 24 months prior to the stadium opening. If a natural grass surface is selected some accommodations will need to be made to support a healthy grass surface in a stadium which has a fixed roof. While more work needs to be done, we believe this can be accomplished by ensuring adequate air flow at the field level and the introduction of artificial grow light technology.”
Renderings vs. what will eventually be built
“Some comments were made regarding how the public can be assured that the final stadium project will look like the initial renderings. This assurance is easily achieved by the City of Jacksonville including in the partnership agreement a provision that any material deviation from the final approved design must be approved by the city. This is a standard provision included in most development agreements between public and private parties. A similar provision is included in the Jaguars agreement with the city for the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, new Shipyards office building and the recently completed Miller Electric Center.”
You can read the entire 99-page report here, which includes more proposed stadium renderings and current conditions of TIAA Bank Field.
The responses to key town hall questions begin on page 55.
