The Jacksonville Jaguars’ fortunes on the field were up and down in 2023 – a five-game winning streak here, a four-game losing streak there – but team President Mark Lamping said the Jaguars entered 2024 on a trajectory to meet their overarching goal of becoming a “sustainable, consistently competitive NFL team here in Northeast Florida.”
Lamping said the team had overcome several hurdles in reaching that objective.
Completion of the Miller Electric Center in 2023 gave the Jaguars an updated practice and training facility.
Progress on the Four Seasons mixed-use project near EverBank Stadium set the stage for what Lamping called “catalytic” development that would lift Downtown Jacksonville and, with it, the Jaguars.
Then there was the team’s on-field performance, which included a playoff run in 2023 and a possible return this year depending on the outcome of the final regular-season games Jan. 6-7.
But now comes another step, and it’s a big one. Lamping says the Jaguars need their proposed “Stadium of the Future” to move from renderings to reality to “make sure we have a stadium that can support an NFL team and support the community for years to come.”
That will require forging a deal with the city of Jacksonville to provide public funding of possibly more than $1 billion for the stadium and an adjacent dining and entertainment center.
In a Jan. 2 interview, Lamping said he was in daily contact with city officials and was happy with the city’s progress toward negotiations.
Both the Jaguars and city leaders say their goal is to work out a deal by mid-2024. Lamping said the ideal timeline for construction would involve the team playing away from Jacksonville in only one season — 2027 — while the stadium is under renovation.
“We’re very confident that our interest and the interests of the city are aligned, and we’re confident that we’ll be able to find a solution that works for all parties,” Lamping said.
There are several moving parts.
Mike Weinstein, a leading member of Mayor Donna Deegan’s negotiation team, said key steps would include determining a more exact cost estimate for transforming EverBank into the new stadium; completing an analysis of the durability of EverBank Stadium’s infrastructure; cutting a long-term lease; and establishing a guaranteed minimum number of home games and a relocation clause that would cover the city’s losses if the Jaguars pulled out of Jacksonville.
The Jaguars, as with all of the NFL’s teams, will benefit from new TV deals that will pump $125.5 billion in guaranteed money into the league through 2033.
Those agreements include Amazon’s $1 billion-per-year Thursday Night Football agreement, which kicked off in 2022, and five deals that took effect this season.
Asked how the TV money would benefit Jacksonville, Lamping said, “sometimes it puts teams in position where they can consider investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a city for a stadium.”
For NFL teams, new stadium complexes create additional revenue streams from such sources as upgraded luxury boxes, dining, shopping and upscaled concession options.
The value of four franchises on Forbes’ annual valuations of NFL teams increased 20% or more in 2023, and new stadiums were a factor in each one.
The value of the Tennessee Titans shot up 26% after cutting a deal for $1.26 billion in public financing toward a $2.1 billion stadium that is expected to open in 2027.
