by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Financial losses incurred by the Jacksonville Jaguars over the past three years have triggered a clause in the team’s lease that would significantly reduce damages owed to the City if the Jaguars were to leave town, the team’s chief financial officer said Wednesday.
Bill Prescott, also the team’s senior vice president of stadium operations, said a letter from Wayne Weaver delivered to Mayor John Peyton July 15, was sent to give the City formal notice of “pre-tax losses” in two of the last three years. That relieves the team of about $50 million in damages that would be owed to the City in the event of a move, said Prescott.
Prescott estimated the team would have to pay about $32 million to the City to break its long-term lease early. That money would pay the City back for lost supplemental rent on the stadium. But the team is no longer liable to pay damages resulting from lost base rent and ticket and parking revenue, he said. Those expenses would have cost the team about an extra $48 million.
The team is committed to finding a way to stay financially sound in small-market Jacksonville, said Prescott. That will require help from the City, the National Football League and Jaguars fans.
“There are really three major pieces to this puzzle,” said Prescott. “The major piece is revenue sharing, which we’re discussing with the League now. We need help from the City as far as our rent and finding some creative revenue streams and we need the
support of the community for ticket sales.
“For Jacksonville to support an NFL franchise, all those things have to come together.”
The team is looking for the City to defer portions of its rent payments. That would allow the team to weather the recent run of lagging revenues, he said. The team is asking for the City’s Sports Complex Trust Fund to fund the deferrals. Prescott wouldn’t give specifics about how much money the team has lost, but said the team ranked 27th out of 32 teams in 2003 in revenue raised.
“Given time, Jacksonville will grow to where it can support an NFL franchise,” he said. “If the City will work with us on the rent deferrals and allow the market to grow, we can pay those expenses in the future and stay financially sound.”
Citing ongoing negotiations with the Jaguars, the mayor’s office had no comment.