Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said that when she and her staff went to City Council in support of spending tax dollars for an esports arena at the University of North Florida, they received some puzzled looks.
“There was a lot of, ‘What? We have a tough budget year, and we’re going to give $3 million to UNF for a game? What?’” she said.
But head-scratching eventually turned to nodding as Deegan promoted the arena as a boost for workforce development, education and tourism in Northeast Florida.