Jacksonville Jaguars’ Negotiations For Stadium Renovations On Deck

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Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) catches a pass as Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell (32) defends during the second half of an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

The stadium lease ended in 2029.

The National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars’ franchise owner Shad Khan is about ready to talk to Jacksonville officials about the future of the franchise’s home venue.  The Jaguars organization’s lease with the city will be done after the 2029 season. While that is more than six years away, in the stadium game six years is not very far in the future. In October 2022, the Florida Times-Union newspaper reported that the price tag for a renovation is expected to be somewhere between $600 million and a billion dollars. How much of that money will be coming from local taxpayers is unknown. But politicians have been on a spending spree allocating $600 of Maryland taxpayers’ money for an upgrade of the Baltimore Ravens home field. New York State and Tennessee lawmakers are literally spending a billion dollars for new football venues in Buffalo and Nashville. Jacksonville elected officials have some examples of how much money will be needed to satisfy Khan for a renovated facility. Tennessee Titans’ officials initially wanted to renovate the Nashville stadium the team calls home but after some research, Titans’ ownership and local officials decided to spend a few hundred million dollars more to be a build new facility.

Khan’s business 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. Khan has seven seasons left on his deal but time has come to get a stadium deal done.

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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)