Council OKs option for Jumbo Shrimp’s 10-year lease extension

The minor league baseball team also will receive revenue from nongame club events at 121 Financial Ballpark.


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  • | 8:58 p.m. June 8, 2021
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The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play Downtown at 121 Financial Ballpark. (City of Jacksonville photo)
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play Downtown at 121 Financial Ballpark. (City of Jacksonville photo)
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The Jacksonville City Council approved a 10-year lease extension option June 8 that could keep the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp playing at 121 Financial Ballpark through March 2043.

Ordinance 2021-0281 allows the minor league team to exercise the 10-year extension before March 2032. The current lease options expire in 2033.

The bill also allows Jumbo Shrimp parent company Jacksonville Baseball LLC, to retain 30% of gross concession revenue for club events that are not home games, such as family movie nights and concerts. A legislative summary filed with the bill says that revenue currently is paid to the city.

The Council voted 19-0 for lease changes as part of the meeting’s consent agenda.

Team leadership announced in a news release May 6 it reached an agreement with the mayor’s administration on the deal.

The Jumbo Shrimp team, previously the Jacksonville Suns, has played at 121 Financial Ballpark, owned by the city and managed by ASM Global, since 2003.

Jacksonville Baseball LLC signed its current four-year lease in 2019 with two, five-year extension options through March 2033. 

“We are thrilled to cement this lease extension to keep the Jumbo Shrimp at 121 Financial Ballpark,” Jumbo Shrimp CEO and owner  Ken Babby said in a May 6 news release. 

This season, the Jumbo Shrimp moved up from AA to became the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

 

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