Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping said Monday a naming rights deal for the team’s new indoor practice facility is being negotiated with a locally based company.
Lamping said an agreement could be announced soon, but he declined to say when or with which company.
“Nothing to report at this time because the deal’s not done,” he said. “I wish it was.”
Lamping said the sponsor will share a title with the Daily’s Place amphitheater because that name has “a broader designation.”
“It will be under the banner of ‘such and such at Daily’s Place’,” he said after a presentation to the Meninak Club of Jacksonville.
Lamping said most naming rights agreements between companies and professional sports teams “are generally with businesses that are based in their communities.”
“I would expect nothing different with this,” he said.
A change for the current naming rights partner for the football stadium, EverBank Financial Corp., will not change during the 2017 season, he said.
EverBank was acquired by New York-based TIAA, a financial services company, in August for about $2.5 billion. A name for the merged company is being determined.
“Once they complete that process I assume we’ll have some discussion or we won’t have any discussion,” Lamping said. “One thing I do know is they’re committed to Jacksonville.”
Lamping discussed the Jaguars at the meeting, including the challenges of operating an NFL team in a small market and the plan for owner Shad Khan to redevelop the riverfront Shipyards and Metropolitan Park properties Downtown.
“I wish there was something of substance to announce,” said Lamping about the Shipyards. “There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work going on. There’s just not a lot, definitively, that would make sense to share at this point.”
Lamping said any final deal will consider the needs of the community and local government.
An update likely will come next year with the announcement of a framework for an economic development agreement with the city, he said.
Khan’s Iguana Investments of Florida was awarded the development rights in April and has about a year to come to terms with the city.
“The one thing Shad wants to do, though, is he really wants to see a lot of activity happening at the same time,” Lamping said. “That’s harder to do.”
In the meantime, Lamping said Iguana is meeting with four groups of urban planners and architects to review and provide suggestions on the current set of ideas, although he declined to name the people involved. At least one is international.
“It could end up being a little bit of a competition and we don’t like the idea of calling out people that might not prevail in that process,” he said.
In July, Lamping, Khan, Mayor Lenny Curry and Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa took a brief trip to scout cities with large mixed-use complexes outside of sports stadiums.
All were built by Baltimore, Maryland-based The Cordish Companies, who Lamping said has “world-class experience.”
“Any city that’s looking to do a development that has sports at its core should certainly talk to Cordish,” he said.
Curry took some criticism for flying on Khan’s private aircraft.
Lamping said there are no plans for another trip, but that he would like to show the mayor other developments when the team travels for games at Pittsburgh and other cities.
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