Jacksonville Jaguars fans can take their first look at improvements to the “Stadium of the Future” on Oct. 6 when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town for Monday Night Football.
On Oct. 3, team and city officials held a media event marking the completion of a new staircase at EverBank Stadium’s Gate 1, part of a $1.4 billion makeover of the Jaguars’ home.
The 66 stairs will be the first of four grand staircases around the stadium, each with an escalator alongside it. Gate 1 is at the southwest corner of EverBank near Lot J and Daily’s Place.
The stadium renovations are still in their first stages, Jaguars President Mark Lamping said. Most of what has been done has been utility and subsurface work that wouldn’t be readily visible.
“We’re making progress, there’s no question about that, but we’re still in the infant stages of construction,” Lamping said.
"To put it in perspective, as of now, we’ve completed approximately 5% of the work necessary to complete the project.”
The stairs’ construction allows the Jaguars to consolidate its gates around Lot J. Lamping said that with the wider stairs installed, the team will open a “super gate” that would make accessing the fan entertainment zone easier.
Construction crews will soon begin tearing down stadium stairways and ramps. Those will be replaced by more grand staircases and escalators, and the stadium’s concourse – which has already been widened – will continue to expand. After that, columns supporting the stadium’s roof will begin to circle the stadium.
Lamping said Iguana Investments, Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s development company, was proceeding as planned on construction of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences and One Shipyards Place office building that will become the team’s headquarters.
“This remains an extremely complex project with unforeseen conditions presenting themselves on a regular basis, but thanks to the experience and professionalism of our design and construction team … we continue to move forward as scheduled,” Lamping said.
The stadium renovations are set to be complete by the 2028 season.
The Jaguars are playing at EverBank Stadium this year with a slightly reduced capacity, then will return to the stadium in 2026 with a seating capacity of about 43,500. In 2027, the Jaguars will play their home games in Orlando or Gainesville, but with the possibility of playing three home games in London.
The NFL owners’ group gave final approval Oct. 15 to the Jaguars’ deal with the city to modernize the stadium.
The deal includes $775 million in public funding from the city of Jacksonville and $625 million from the team. A 30-year lease is part of the package.
The deal with the team included that lease, a nonrelocation agreement and $56 million in spending on riverfront parks and the stadium-adjacent flex field.
Full renovations will add a partial roof cover, expanded and elevated concourses, a park-like entrance, corner openings to improve airflow and a reflective outer coating to reduce interior heat.
Those funds came with agreements with the Jaguars, including the team using registered and certified Jacksonville Small and Emerging Businesses as contractors for the renovations. For JSEB-eligible projects, the Jaguars are required to enter into them for at least 20% of the costs.
Lamping said the team would have focused on Jacksonville contractors even without the agreement with the city.
“It’s a focus on all small businesses, and it’s a focus on local companies,” he said. “Every project that we’ve done, we’ve been focusing on keeping the work local… The way (the project) leaves a legacy is it gives a step up to an emerging business.”
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and Tony Boselli, the Jaguars’ executive vice president for football operations, said during the staircase opening event that the renovations stood for something larger than truckloads of concrete.
“The Grand Staircase is impressive, but it’s more than a staircase. It represents another rendering becoming a reality in our city,” Deegan said. “It is the first portion of the Stadium of the Future that fans will be able to use during our next home game.”
Boselli expanded on the construction theme in discussing the team’s future, mentioning Khan, general manager James Gladstone and first-year head coach Liam Coen.
“We are at the beginning stages, as well, with building this football team, and what type of football team we’re going to be,” Boselli said. “Myself, Liam Coen and James Gladstone, have the honor, given to us by Shad, to come in to build an organization, to build a football organization that this community can be proud of.”