by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The man who gave Jacksonville a professional football team looks now at the city as more than just a National Football League city.
“I’ve developed a lot of friends here,” said Paul Tagliabue, the former commissioner of the NFL, after Tuesday’s Cornerstone luncheon. “Do I spend time here? Yes, but not enough. I don’t have time.”
Retirement hasn’t been the traditional type for Tagliabue, who finished his 17 years as NFL commissioner this summer. He’s been traveling to places such as Bhutan, India and Russia, plus working on university boards and doing charity work with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
It was LISC that brought him to Jacksonville this time to meet with the local board and he also had two invitation-only sessions with local leaders in addition to the speech before an estimated 600 at the Hyatt luncheon.
LISC works with investors on programs that benefit the community while also giving tax breaks.
Tagliabue said his overseas travel — particularly to Asia — gave him concern about the effects of globalization on America.
“I don’t think we have a sense of urgency about what’s happening there,” he said. “I read that the United States, if we look ahead 10 years, will have 18 million people between 18 and 24 who will be able to do the hard work on the university and post-graduate level. In China, there will be 100 million; in India, there will be 125 million.
“There’s a lot of talent out there in high skill areas. American business needs to look at how we run our businesses and how we will structure our future.”
The former commissioner had more than the usual obligatory praise for Jacksonville and the Jaguars.
In his introduction, Jaguars majority owner Wayne Weaver lauded Tagliabue’s vision.
“He showed the long-term vision of entering new markets,” said Weaver. “He could have placed teams in Baltimore and St. Louis, but he went with Jacksonville and Charlotte. He knew the value of looking ahead. Without his vision, we wouldn’t have had the (2005) Super Bowl.”
According to a local businessman who sat in on a business roundtable Tuesday morning, Tagliabue said that the awarding of the Jacksonville and Charlotte franchises showed that the league wanted to move ahead, not behind. Baltimore and St. Louis previously had franchises which owners moved to more fertile grounds, and both expected to get teams when the league expanded from 28 to 30 teams.
According to the businessman, Tagliabue said it opened the league to think of new ideas and new areas.
“Jacksonville and Charlotte added a fresh perspective,” said Tagliabue. “The rest of the league learned some things. Wayne Weaver showed me an extensive focus group survey he had done which addressed the fans — how they viewed their experience at Alltel Stadium, what they thought of the Jaguars, things like that. I don’t think many owners had thought that much about the fans. Now everyone does.
“The Jaguars Foundation is a model for the rest of the league. What Delores Weaver and her staff have done has shown everyone else how to have a strong community outreach.”
And, he said, the league itself may be looking into new areas.
“I think you may see teams in Canada and Mexico down the road,” he said after the meeting. “Not sooner, but maybe later. Western Europe is a possibility. Asia? There’s a lot of cultural differences that have to be resolved, even with the huge population.”