There’s more to esports and video gaming than recreation and competition.
According to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s office, it’s an industry that generates $1.5 billion in revenue worldwide and supports a workforce of 16,000 people in Florida alone.
On April 8, the Jacksonville City Council approved legislation requested by Deegan to fund a program for students interested in careers in the esports and gaming field.
The Council’s 15-1 vote on Ordinance 2025-0265 provides $3 million to create an esports arena at the University of North Florida’s John A. Delaney Student Union. The facility is designed to attract national esports competitions to UNF and boost the university’s enrollment, particularly students seeking degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
According to an April 9 release from UNF, the arena will be known as the Flight Deck and will include "42 high-performance PC gaming stations; a built-in competition stage for live tournaments and team play; a broadcast studio space for live streaming, shoutcasting and content production; a flexible console play zone for casual and console-based gaming; and will include event integration for seamless connection to the adjacent auditorium for spectator seating and large-scale events."
The funding is part of a $7.98 million pot of funds that the city “recaptured” after the 2023-24 fiscal year, meaning the money was not spent by the city during that year.
The $3 million for the UNF arena will count toward the city’s portion of the $300 million community benefits agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a companion to the $1.4 billion deal to transform EverBank Stadium into the team’s “Stadium of the Future.”
As part of that agreement, the city committed $40 million over 15 years countywide for workforce development, affordable housing and homelessness services. Another $40 million will go toward addressing those needs in the Eastside neighborhood adjacent to the stadium.
Council member Will Lahnen, whose District 3 includes the UNF campus, described the arena as a deficit-neutral investment in workforce development given that it constitutes unspent money as opposed to new expenditure from the city’s general fund. He said the project would position Northeast Florida to be a regional leader in esports training and development.
In an emailed statement, Deegan's office thanked Lahnen for sponsoring the legislation and Council for passing it.
"The new arena will position Jacksonville as a leader in this booming industry that will bring many tourism, economic, and workforce development opportunities to Jacksonville," the statement said.
Council member Rory Diamond, who has described the project as “nuts,” cast the no vote. Diamond said he opposed the expenditure at a time when the city “is broke,” with Council auditors forecasting deficits of up to $105 million over the next four years.
Members Ju’Coby Pittman and Reggie Gaffney Jr. abstained, citing potential work conflicts of interest related to the CBA. Both work in areas involving workforce development and homelessness services.
Council Vice President Kevin Carrico was not present for the vote.
With the recaptured funding, Deegan also requested successful legislation to spend $4 million to renovate fire stations 45 and 53 and $692,823 to build a personal protective equipment decontamination and wash facility for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
The UNF esports arena was initially bundled with the JFRD projects but was separated during a committee meeting in which Diamond said he wouldn’t support the packaged measure because he opposed the UNF proposal.
The arena was separated out into Ordinance 2025-0265, which Council considered on an emergency, one-week basis as opposed to the normal six-week process. Council President Randy White agreed to accelerate the process to keep the UNF project on the same cycle as the bundled legislation.
Council member Jimmy Peluso noted that the Council had yet to form a committee to decide how to apportion its portion of the community benefits agreement. Peluso, whose District 7 includes the Eastside neighborhood, said he supported the UNF project but would not vote for other projects until the city developed a strategy for its CBA contribution.
He cautioned his colleagues against proposing spending that would “eviscerate an important fund, an important tool we’re going to have to create a level playing field in this community.”
The benefits agreement calls for the city to infuse $40 million over seven years into the Eastside neighborhood, which has long suffered from higher-than average unemployment rates and percentages of residents living below the poverty line.