The NFL owners group delivered a victory for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 15, giving final approval to the team’s “Stadium of the Future” deal with the city.
In the last step required, the league’s 32 owners OK’d the $1.4 billion stadium agreement on a unanimous vote at the NFL Fall League Meeting in Atlanta.
With the vote, the team can proceed toward remaking and modernizing EverBank Stadium by the 2028 season with such features as a partial roof cover, expanded and elevated concourses, a park-like entrance, corner openings to improve airflow and a reflective outer coating designed to reduce interior heat.
The deal, which needed support of 24 of the 32 team owners to pass, includes $775 million in public funding from the city of Jacksonville and $625 million from the team. A 30-year lease is part of the package.
"Never doubt Jacksonville. That was my message in the summer to Mayor (Donna) Deegan, the Jacksonville City Council and our residents, and I am humbled and grateful that my fellow NFL team owners agree,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a news release Oct. 15.
“Today’s League approval of our Stadium of the Future plan means we will realize our vision for a reimagined home of the Jaguars in Downtown Jacksonville, scheduled to open in 2028," he said.
"The venue will be world-class by every definition. It will impressively serve the Jaguars and their fans, attract major sports and entertainment events to our region, and serve as an economic catalyst for decades to come.”
In addition to the stadium funding, the league approved a league-record $300 million community benefits agreement between the team and the city.
In that agreement, each side will put up $150 million for workforce development, affordable housing, homelessness services and parks development in the Eastside neighborhood north of the stadium and countywide.
“With today’s vote by the NFL, we are on the cusp of taking a huge leap forward and showing once again that Jacksonville is a can-do city,” Deegan said in the release.
“We will soon have a world-class stadium for our citizens to enjoy, and we are making historic investments that will transform our community, realize the dream of a vibrant downtown, and reinvigorate our riverfront," she said.
"I’d like to express my profound thanks to the League, to Shad Khan, and to the entire Jaguars team. Together, we are creating a bright future for our city.”
Stadium plans
The revamped stadium will feature a shade cover that will protect all seating areas from direct sunlight and rain, an open-air design that will allow for cross-ventilation through openings at the corners, observation decks offering views of the St. Johns River and Downtown skyline, new concessions and beverage options, an increased number of bathrooms, an artificial playing surface and more.
Jaguars President Mark Lamping said the new design was based on surveys of Jaguars fans, who listed shading as their top request for the new stadium.
Afternoon games frequently result in dozens of fans being treated on-site or hospitalized for heat-related issues.
The new stadium will be downsized from 67,814 to 62,000 seats, with the ability to expand capacity to 71,500 for college football games and concerts.
The stadium opened in 1995 and last underwent significant upgrading in 2016, with a $90 million improvement that included overhauling the club seating, creating patios at midfield and constructing Daily’s Place amphitheater and the flex field.
Details of the deal
City Council approved the stadium agreement on June 25, with then-Council President Ron Salem holding up his arms and signaling the vote as a touchdown and Lamping encouraging Council to “party like it’s 1993.” Lamping’s remark was a reference to the year when Jacksonville was awarded the NFL franchise.
Under the lease agreement, the team will pay the city a base rent of $1 million a year. That money will go into operations, utilities and an events fund along with revenue from third-party events and surcharges on tickets and parking.
In the nonrelocation agreement, the Jags would pay back 100% of the public funding if the team moves during the first through 14th years of the lease. After that comes a sliding scale that decreases the repayment by 6.25% per year, reducing it to 93.75% in the 15th year down to 6.25% in the 29th year.
A move in the final year of the lease would require no repayment. The agreement also allows the city to seek the costs of demolishing the stadium from the team in the event of relocation. In all cases, the city would first be required to seek “equitable relief,” such as payment with property assets as opposed to money.
The Jaguars agreed to pay for all cost overruns not caused by the city.
Hard-hat time
The team plans to begin stadium construction in 2025, with capacity virtually unchanged that year.
In 2026, capacity will be reduced to about 43,500 as upper seating sections are closed to facilitate construction. The team would play in either Gainesville or Orlando in 2027, with an option to play up to three home games in London that year.
If all goes according to plan, the overhauled stadium will open in 2028.
Community benefits
On Sept. 10, Council approved a $94 million city contribution to the community benefits agreement. In a previous vote, Council had approved spending $56 million to develop three Riverfront parks, which also were part of the benefits agreement.
The approved agreement reflected compromises among Council members, some of whom balked with an original provision to front-load funding to the Eastside by providing an initial $30 million commitment over three years.
As approved, the agreement included an additional $10 million for the Eastside, but potentially spread it over more years. Council agreed to provide at least $4 million per year, with a minimum of $1.5 million per year distributed countywide, but also approved a safety valve that would allow the payments to be paused in lean budget years for the city.
The provision was known as the “Howland-Lahnen Protection amendment” for Council members Nick Howland and Will Lahnen.
The changes were prompted by concerns among several Council members about a report by Council auditors projecting deficits of up to $105 million over the next four years.
The city’s upfront funding was designed to kickstart improvements in the Eastside, with the Jaguars providing $2.5 million per year beginning in 2028-29.
The Jaguars initially offered to provide $100 million in community benefits, which alone would have been a record amount in the NFL.
The team upped its contribution to $150 million after Mayor Donna Deegan’s office proposed putting up $150 million in public funding if the Jaguars would match it.
Paying for it
The city’s plan to pay its share of the costs revolves around half-cent sales tax increases approved by voters in 2000 for infrastructure improvements and in 2016 to pay down the city’s unfunded pension liability.
Under Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration, the city made plans to sunset the infrastructure tax, which funds what is known as the Better Jacksonville Plan, in 2026 and start the pension tax at that time.
To fund the stadium, Deegan’s administration proposed keeping the Better Jacksonville Plan in place over its full 30 years and beginning the pension tax afterward. The change allowed the city to shift $600 million of projects out of its Capital Improvement Plan, which is paid for mostly through borrowed funding, and pay for them with Better Jacksonville Plan revenue.
The city will then pay for stadium improvements out of the Capital Improvement Plan.
The Council Auditor’s Office reported that shifting the projects out of the Better Jacksonville Plan would save the city $25 million annually in general fund expenses. The $25 million figure was derived from a $40 million savings in annual debt payments on the projects minus $15 million in pension contributions that would be saved if the pension liability tax increase took effect early.
Although the start of the pension tax would be delayed, the auditor’s office reported that it would pay down the pension debt liability several years before its sunset. Like the Better Jacksonville Plan, the tax increase was designed to be in effect for up to 30 years.
Team’s rough start
The decision does offer a victory for a team suffering through a dismal season so far, losing five of their first six games.
After making the NFL playoffs in 2022 and starting the 2023 season at 8-3, the Jaguars have since lost 10 of their last 12 games. The team lost five of its last six games in 2023, costing it a spot in the playoffs despite finishing with a winning record at 9-8.
The Jaguars made several roster and coaching changes in the offseason but their only victory thus far in 2024 was a 37-34 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Heading into their game Oct. 20 against the New England Patriots in London, Jacksonville is among six one-win teams this season in the NFL.