Winning just 14 games in the past four seasons isn’t nearly enough for Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s taste.
It’s actually downright unacceptable, said the billionaire businessman who bought the 21-year-old franchise in 2012 from Wayne Weaver.
“I’ve agonized over every defeat,” Khan said Friday. “Not just me, but our partners and fans, as well.”
Khan also isn’t content with the amount of revenue the franchise is generating, an outcome that President Mark Lamping say is moderately attributable to the Jaguars being in one of the NFL’s smallest markets.
“There is the reality that there’s not a lot of us that live here,” Lamping said Friday at the Jaguars’ annual state-of-the-franchise news conference. “… To not plan around it would be irresponsible on our behalf.”
One way the team is addressing the revenue issue is through an average 3.6 percent increase in ticket prices, depending on where the seats are and when tickets are purchased.
Lamping said 54 percent of the team’s revenue in 2015 came from ticket sales. The team’s average ticket price is fifth-lowest in the league.
The need for improved financial performance also is why the team and the city are splitting the cost of $90 million in improvements to the EverBank Field complex.
The investment will create what Lamping said will become a world-class venue for a wide range of events while helping position Jacksonville as a tourist destination.
A multimedia presentation unveiling designs and details for an amphitheater, indoor multiuse practice facility and renovated club seats provided the backdrop for the largely upbeat event.
Lamping used the opportunity to point out that NFL fans in Jacksonville are in a much better position than those in St. Louis, which lost its franchise to Los Angeles. It’s possible that San Diego or Oakland might also bolt for Los Angeles.
“Wasn’t it wonderful for this community not to have the Jacksonville Jaguars constantly being one of those teams that potentially would move to LA?” Lamping said.
The Jaguars’ president also reinforced the team’s commitment to playing one of its eight annual home games in England.
“Make no mistake, our involvement in London makes us more stable in Jacksonville,” he said. “When we can put Jacksonville in the same conversation as London, that’s a pretty good thing for Jacksonville.”
The fourth annual state-of-the franchise event drew dozens of news media members and community leaders, including Mayor Lenny Curry.
It also brought assurance from Khan that the team, which reached the NFL playoffs in four of its first five years, will return to gridiron glory. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2007 season.
Khan says the team’s on-the-football-field problems are being adequately addressed by General Manager Dave Caldwell, particularly with the extension of head coach Gus Bradley’s contract last week.
“Everybody’s reasonable expectation is a winning season next season,” Khan said. “We don’t want to be a franchise, on or off the field, that merely exists. We want to thrive and be respected.”
Responding to a reporter’s question, Khan said he will not make it a priority to bring another Super Bowl to Jacksonville. The city hosted Super Bowl XXIX a decade ago.
He said with its stadium improvements, Miami would be better suited to host the game. The energy needed to pursue a Super Bowl for EverBank Field “is much better served on something else,” Khan said.
Both he and Lamping said they like the idea of the new amphitheater hosting the NFL Draft.
The stars of Friday’s show at EverBank were the three-dimensional renderings for the amphitheater, a covered practice field that will double as public space when it is not being used for football and a complete makeover of the US Assure Clubs luxury seating area.
Scheduled to open as early as this fall, the amphitheater is slated to have 5,500 fixed seats and additional room for temporary seating.
Lamping compared the amphitheater, which will have two areas offering balcony seating much like an opera, to New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
“To call this an amphitheater is really sort of a misnomer ...” he said. “We want to attract fans of football, concerts, the arts and many other interests to a new entertainment venue that Jacksonville has not had before.”
The amphitheater will be at the south end of the stadium under a roof that will cover both the entertainment venue and the team’s climate-controlled practice field and covered pavilion, billed as a “flex field” due to its various uses.
The field with multiuse synthetic turf will be on Gator Bowl Boulevard at the stadium’s south end.
Sliding hangar-style doors will enable the space to be used in closed- and open-air formats, creating additional space for game-day activities and other events.
Work on the US Assure Club seats is expected to be completed this summer. The upgrades include creating a more open-air, socially interactive game experience.