With Jacksonville’s 2024-25 events calendar missing three sizable entries, the head of the city’s Office Sports and Entertainment told City Council members Aug. 15 that his staff was working to fill the holes.
The office came into a Council Finance Committee budget hearing reporting a $474,309 decrease in operating expenses, partly driven by the elimination of funding for the Sea & Sky Air Show at Jacksonville Beach and a Bethune-Cookman University football game at EverBank Stadium.
Both of those events will not be held in Jacksonville during the 2024-25 budget year. Sea & Sky was dropped after the U.S. Navy Blue Angels told Jacksonville it “wanted to give another city a chance” at hosting the demonstration flying team, said Alex Alston, executive director of the office.