JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville took the wraps off the most expensive investment in Jacksonville history on Tuesday, a 50-50 cost split on the $1.25 billion “Stadium of the Future” project that won’t include new taxes and will keep the team in town for the next generation.
Team president Mark Lamping, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and Mike Weinstein, the city’s lead negotiator, made the presentation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. They laid out numbers, a timeline, what taxpayers will be on the hook for and the two stadiums where the Jaguars could play during that renovation season, which would come in 2027.
The city’s $625 million portion will be factored into the annual budget across the next four years and won’t include a tax increase for residents. The city also agreed to pay $150 million if a new deal is signed for maintenance and upkeep needed, bringing Jacksonville’s total investment to $775 million. That latter $150 million is notable because it tilts the actual percentages to the side of the city in how it’s presented at the NFL owner’s meetings.
The proposal that could be given to the NFL would be framed as a 55-45 split, with the city taking on the 55% portion. League owners are unlikely to approve a 50-50 split. Upon an approved deal, immediate maintenance and upkeep and needs of the stadium, and costs that would go into getting the stadium ready for those renovations, would begin. A new stadium deal requires 75% of NFL owners to approve.
The Jaguars would be responsible for cost overruns outside of the $1.25 billion, a significant concession considering the current overages in the Buffalo Bills stadium construction.
Almost all of that money will come from stretching the Better Jacksonville Plan out until 2030 and using those funds to help fund the renovation. The Better Jacksonville Plan was a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2000, a $2.25 billion program set to improve things like roads, infrastructure, development and public facilities.
Negotiations between Mayor Deegan’s office, outside consultants and the Jaguars have been ongoing since last August. City Council president Ron Salem said last Wednesday that a deal had been reached and that he looked forward to it being presented to the full council. Any deal between the Jaguars and the city-owned EverBank Stadium needs to be approved by the Jacksonville City Council.
Those debates and discussions will take place over the coming months, along with five community meetings in the coming weeks to allow the public to give input on the deal.
At the earliest, the council is expected to vote on the stadium deal on June 25, though there was already pushback from at least one council member.
Flex Field, the area around the stadium and gameday expenses
The Flex Field, which is adjacent to Daily’s Place and served as the team’s indoor practice facility will become an exhibit-type hall. The city plans to lay down a floor in that area and it could serve as a venue to host basketball games.
Deegan’s big ask was for reinforcements in and around the downtown area of the stadium. The city and the Jaguars agreed to $150 million each in a community aspect element. That touches areas like workforce development, community housing and Jacksonville’s Eastside, commonly referred to as “Out East.” The Jaguars’ commitment would largely center around the Out East area. Separately, the Jaguars plan to invest $100 million in a development next to the Four Seasons hotel. The Four Seasons is under construction as part of The Shipyards project.
Under a new lease, the Jaguars, and not the city, would pick up 80% of the gameday operating expenses, something that is largely shouldered by the city in the current lease. The city also hoped that turning a venue like Flex Field into an exhibit hall would generate more revenue.
Where would they play?
The Jaguars would play at EverBank Stadium at a reduced capacity in 2025 (60,000) and 2026 (43,500).
The Jaguars said that the team would play at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium or the University of Florida for one year during the renovations in 2027.
Daytona International Speedway had been an out-of-the-box thought, but Lamping said the team had opted for either Gainesville or Orlando as a temporary home.
If the Jaguars choose to play at Florida, The Swamp would need new visitors’ locker rooms to get brought up to NFL standards. Camping World is undergoing a $400 million renovation. The Swamp is also going to undergo a makeover. The school announced last year that it would undergo a “multigeneration solution” that could cost at least $400 million. Lamping said money for the Gators locker room upgrades hadn’t been discussed.
The NFL has a program called the G-5, a stadium financing arm where teams can borrow up to $300 million from the league, but Lamping indicated that teams don’t have to use that option.
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Take a look at the presentation below:
Why do the Jaguars need an updated stadium?
The old Gator Bowl was largely knocked down and rebuilt over a 20-month span after the city was awarded a franchise in 1993. The next major upgrade, a $63 million facelift, was done prior to Super Bowl 39 in 2005. More significant renovations were done in 2016 with a $90 million overhaul that added Daily’s Place and Flex Field.
Those were largely stopgap-type upgrades, not a massive, bring-the-facility-into-the-present overhaul that is required in today’s NFL.
Lamping and owner Shad Khan launched that topic into the public during the team’s State of the Franchise on April 18, 2019. Since Jacksonville’s first season in 1995, 22 NFL teams have built new stadiums. The Bills and the Titans are currently in the process of new builds.
The Jaguars’ 35-year lease with the city expires after the 2029 season and the team has long since said that any potential lease extension with Jacksonville would be tied to a new or upgraded stadium. Under a new lease agreement, the Jaguars would have a no-relocation agreement.
What recent deals have looked like
What have other cities done about new or updated stadiums recently?
The Buffalo Bills are getting $850 million in taxpayer contributions ($650 million from the state of New York and $200 million from Erie County), according to multiple reports, toward their new stadium. Costs for that venue have ballooned from what was initially $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion, according to the Associated Press.
Last April, the Nashville city council agreed in a 26-12 vote to sign off on a new $2.1 billion stadium. According to the Tennessean, nearly 70% of people who spoke publicly at the meeting were opposed to such a deal. The Tennessean reported that the Titans are paying $840 million toward the cost of the stadium, with the state contributing $500 million in bonds alongside $760 million in revenue bonds from Nashville’s Sports Authority. The big difference between those and Jacksonville is that the state of Florida doesn’t help subsidize pro sports teams stadiums or arenas.
What are the odds a deal gets done?
Very good.
Publicly, Khan, Lamping and Deegan have said the right things. Khan and his company, Iguana Investments and the city have invested millions already in the stadium and venues like the new Miller Electric Center. The Shipyards project is underway and that will revitalize and revamp the areas surrounding the stadium. The Shipyards includes a refreshed Met Park, private residences, a Four Seasons hotel and a soon-to-be relocated MOSH. That project was unanimously approved by the city council in 2021 and is ongoing.
While the Jaguars’ new stadium deal won’t be voted on by Duval County residents, it’s interesting when stadium deals come up for public vote. According to the Associated Press, from 1990 to 2023 voters cast ballots on 57 stadium and arena proposals; 35 were approved and 22 were voted down. In April, residents of Jackson County, Missouri, resoundingly voted down a sales tax measure that would have helped to fund a new downtown ballpark for the Kansas City Royals along with major renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs.