Jaguars On The Verge Of Getting A Rebuilt Stadium

0
3811
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (17) is tackled by Houston Texans linebacker Neville Hewitt (43) during the second half of an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

The announcement comes soon.

It appears that the owner of the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars franchise, Shad Khan, is going to get a rebuilt stadium in Jacksonville. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has announced. “We have reached an agreement on the framework of a deal. The negotiating team is currently putting the final details on paper, and we will release that information as soon as it is available.” It is expected that the stadium renovations will cost more than a billion dollars. There will also be a stadium-village that goes along with the renovated venue. It is unclear how much the public will be paying for the stadium facelift and how much Khan will kick into the stadium renovation. In 1995, Jacksonville opened the city’s rebuilt Gator Bowl after receiving an NFL expansion franchise. The price tag on the municipal stadium was $121 million. The stadium has been renovated a number of times since its opening. Jacksonville has never developed into the lucrative market that the NFL projected when it was awarded a team in 1993.

Khan’s football team does not play a full home schedule. In 2022, Khan received the go ahead from NFL owners which allowed his team to play an annual game at London’s Wembley Stadium through 2024. The Jaguars’ financial department claims that the business generates about 11% of its local revenue by playing in London. The Jacksonville stadium had about $180 million worth of renovations from 2012 through 2019. But the stadium was still bordering on being obsolete according to the Jaguars’ team president Mark Lamping even after all the improvements. If an agreement is indeed reached, construction could start in February 2025 which means that Jaguars football, home games, will have to be played elsewhere in 2025 and 2026 at a minimum. The time has come to get a stadium deal done.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com