The Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville, Fla., announced plans on Tuesday to give the team’s stadium a $1.4 billion renovation, including a translucent roof. The team and the city are referring to the resulting facility as a “stadium of the future.”
The plan still has to be approved by the Jacksonville City Council (that vote will come in June) and by NFL owners (in October).
Some pertinent details, per the Associated Press:
- The team and the city would split the cost.
- Construction would begin after the 2025 season. The Jags would have reduced seating capacity in 2026; in 2027, they would have to play home games at a different Florida location (probably Gainesville or Orlando).
- The team would sign a 30-year lease with a non-relocation provision.
- The Jags would continue to play one regular season home game per year in London.
Here are some additional renderings:
For additional info on the project, look here and here.
This absurdity of these buildings are just a reminder of the waste of money and space they are.
pretty much every stadium looks like SOFI and/or Allegiant forever now, got it.
From some angles it looks like the spaceship that had landed in Soldier Field took off and landed in Jacksonville.
SoFi is to NFL what Camden was to MLB
Except for the second-to-last picture, which looks like a water park.
If I had a nickel for everytime a billionaire shook down local government to build a SoFi Stadium clone I’d have at least like three nickels
Well in a few years, you might be looking at three dimes at this rate!
I’d imagine this will sail through council seamlessly for the sole reason of the Georgia/Florida game.
You have to remember, and this doesnt get brought up enough, the Kahn family does NOT own that stadium. Would you be willing to pay half the renovation fee on a house you are renting? The Kahn family rents office space, the stadium, and everything from the city. The city makes money on renting the venue for concerts, the florida-georgia game, and other events. The city will make back every dime they spend, AND the Kahn family is going to cover gameday operation expenses as well. Jacksonville got a hell of a deal.
If the city is paying taxpayer money to a privately owned facility, then I have a huge problem with it. But if the city owns the building and can make revenue, then they should be paying to renovate it.
They’re not going to make back enough money, not even close, not unless they up the rent the Jaguars are paying.
I would be SHOCKED if the city didnt make close to 25 mil a year on the Florida Georgia game alone. Building rent, parking, concessions, not to mention taxes from people getting hotels and eating at restaurants. That alone nets them profit.
This is a team with two winning seasons since 2008. Doesn’t seem like a taxpayer shakedown would change that but YMMV I suppose
“The team and the city would split the cost.” This means taxpayers are on the hook for $700 million. Yeesh. What are the chances that Jacksonville residents are still paying for the original construction from 30 years ago?
Duval County taxpayers will not pay 1 cent more in taxes for this. An already established greater Jacksonville plan is just being transferred and extended for this including an existing hotel bed tax.
The only ones being hit by this is a police / fire pension tax being pushed back by a few years.
Again, not 1 cent of new taxes will come out of Duval residents.
It’s a great deal with huge investment in return, this stadium will bring not only football but other events in and around the stadium including a University of Florida satellite campus.
But it’s still hundreds of millions that could be spent on schools, roads, parks, etc. just because it doesn’t raise taxes does not mean there isn’t a cost involved.
If the extra tax revenue meant to fund the pensions is delayed, then do the cops and firefighters benefits get cut? Does the general fund get raided for the pensions? Is there a new tax for pensions?
Even if the tax rate doesn’t increase, the money comes from somewhere.
“Capacity could be expanded to 71,500 to accommodate the annual Florida-Georgia rivalry, the Gator Bowl, a College Football Playoff game or the Final Four.”
And there it is. At least they are not planning on getting another Super Bowl.
So basically the same old stadium but wearing an expensive Sofi suit.
So, with all the fighting over natural grass injuries vs artificial turf injuries, we are going to add three stadiums (potentially with the Bears) that have domes/artificial turf. Granted, the new Bill’s stadium is going to have natural grass. Titans switched to artificial turf last season so, technically that isn’t an additional turf field I guess. I’m surprised the players union hasn’t raised up a big stink.
My thoughts exactly, first thing that came to mind was, “one more artificial turf field”.
I hope against hope that someday the people in charge of such things will decide they want to design stadia (and other buildings) to last 100 years, not look briefly impressive and then get replaced before it falls apart in 20 years.
Totally agree. These projects are massive undertakings, and coupled with the fact that cities allocate money that could be dedicated to resources the taxpayers of that city would actually benefit from, it’s truly sad at how these homogenous/artificial playgrounds are muscled through. Thanks, I hate it.
There are broader structural reasons why we tend to build for shorter-duration occupancy these days across the board. I mean, federal courthouses are also now built with a 30-year intended lifespan.* But sports facilities have the added disincentive that the team’s owner doesn’t expect to pay fully out-of-pocket to build and maintain his stadium. Flashy new construction that won’t last the life of a mortgage is great, if you’re renting. Make American team owners behave like capitalists, and sports facilities will be designed and built to longer-lasting standards. Look at Europe, where soccer teams are actual competitive capitalist businesses, and even the flashiest, newest team-owned facilities are intended to last for generations.
*Literally 30 years, as specified by GSA requirements for bidding on new courthouse design and construction.
There are only 5 stadiums in the league that are over 30 years old.
I’m probably in the minority, but I like stadiums with roofs. Going to games is very expensive, and I want to be comfortable. Otherwise I’ll just stay home and watch it on my huge TV. I do think that new stadiums should do what the Cardinals did, and the Raiders copied, by having a retractable natural grass field. However, probably not possible for this remodel job of their existing stadium.
As someone who attended every Eagles home game from 2003 thru 2016, I would agree that the stadium experience is expensive (even not counting the ticket prices) and often uncomfortable. Weather aside, going to a game is just much less appealing to me now. Perhaps it is because I am older, or I have less passion for sports, or the local fans are getting worse and worse, take your pick. I’d much rather watch games at home now. That said I went to the World Series in 2022 and NFC championship game in 2023, what I found was so much of the crowd that was there seemed as interested in “being there for it” than actually being a super passionate fan of the respective teams. No doubt there is a whole lot of value in “I was there to see…” but the feeling I got at these bigger games was, that in the era of everyone sharing their experiences on social media, you have less big fans, more people big on “being there” be it sports or something else. Long story short, I tend to wonder if that is ultimately what franchise owners are catering their stadium experience to now. It is much less the fans that will show up to any building to watch their team (A’s fans for a long long time) but rather people who want an experience, and will pay whatever to “be there” in a big moment.
As a
As a fellow Philadelphian, I could not agree more. I used to live for Eagles games. When I was single and in my 20s, we would make a feast of food Saturday night, get to the lots around the Vet and then the Linc early and have a blast. Now, the idea of 3 meals and 12 hours on cold asphalt seems less appealing. Still love the Phillies games though. Great vibe. Fun nights.
I keep seeing these new stadiums, and in most cases, there is nothing wrong with the originals. If Fenway, Dodger Stadium, Lambeau, and Wrigley and last this long, what is the practical need for it?
I could understand when places like St Louis, Cincy, Pittsburgh, and Philly dumped their cookie cutter multiuse stadiums in the 1990s. But now it seems about how can the stadiums serve up the best amenities for the wealthy fans in the premium seats. I cannot imagine there is anything practically wrong with the stadium formerly known as the Gator Bowl, nor were season ticket holders upset about the home field. Let’s hope other locations follow the public in KC and say no thanks to unnecessary stadium upgrades.
So many of these new stadium projects promise to deliver cutting-edge amenities for the fans. Except I never hear fans demanding these new stadiums.
Did the Jags organization also subtly release a new “secondary/tertiary” logo? It appears to be a front facing jaguar face. It can be seen in the headline photo as well as the second to last photo on the LED screen. Not sure, but seems like a pretty flushed out logo just to slap around.
That’s what I’m saying. It’s got a huge nose. Looks like a demon.
Is anyone else enamored by the guy in the foreground in an Ian Book jersey in the ND pic?
He’s wearing a generic jersey for “Jaguars” and “Bulldogs” in the other images, but Ian Book? Of all the amazing players to pass through Notre Dame…. Ian Book?!
THANK YOU. I was laughing that the designer went generic, even for the Jaguars where you could put “Lawrence” as a nod to your franchise player (that appears in the jumbotron in the render), but for Notre Dame went for Book, I mean the guy doesn’t even play there anymore and is employed by a rival team (Chiefs).
I also noticed that for the Notre Dame render, the midfield logo is facing to the right of the image, but for the SEC and Jaguars game, i facing the other direction. I guess they change the camera disposition for ND games to accomodate all the Ian Book fans.
As a Saints fan who had to watch Ian Book start a game, that gave me a bit of a jumpscare.
Dang.
I guess they’ll never move to St. Louis.
Could have been some decent geographical rivalries in that division.
“The team and the city would split the cost.”
Or, and I know this is a radical idea in these United States of America, we could try doing capitalism and the team could just pay for and own its own facility? Like literally every other business in Jacksonville does?
Alternately, we could extend the weird socialist model of sports-venue financing to other businesses, and have the government pay to help every restaurant, retail store, accounting firm, and landscaping business construct their buildings. Which seems absurd, but if we accept it for sports, why not every other industry? The government could just own every company’s means of production.
Meet the new cookie-cutter. Same as the old cookie-cutter
Why do you need a roof..? One of the coolest parts about football is that it is played in all elements.
I don’t understand why the NFL is so willing to sacrifice the sport’s rugged, all weather persona, which comes across so well on TV for millions of fans, for a slightly more comfortable viewing experience for the 60K fans that attend games.
Plus, as someone who has been to SoFi and Allegiant – both were incredibly stuffy, sweaty places. Very poor ventilation… I’d prefer some shade and be outdoors than have a roof over my head.
Call me crazy but its nice to be outside sometimes!!!!!
“Why do you need a roof..?”
To host events (ie Final Four, concerts, conventions, etc.) that aren’t football. All these new proposed stadia (like Chicago) aren’t necessarily for football only.
You make excellent points, but the goal of these giant domed edifices is to attract (yuge) revenue-generating events that do need a roof.
Noted regarding basketball tho but true re: concerts as evidenced by Eras tour playing in many outdoor venues (again, it’s nice to be outside!) but certainly more of a headache to deal with inclement weather/winter.
And if Jacksonville wants to do it fine, it feels on brand for the team. The bears, as one of the most historic franchises, is a bit sadder. NFC North is getting soft !!!!
I really can’t image sitting in nosebleeds for a basketball game – ludicrous!
Sounds nice, but let’s be real. Jacksonville isn’t getting a Final Four. Also, how many of today’s music acts can legit fill a stadium? It’s an extremely short list. Finally, how many conventions big enough to require a stadium are considering Jacksonville? Another extremely short list.
Other than Metlife Stadium (and they got lucky on the weather that year), if you want to host a Super Bowl the game has either been played in a dome or a mild climate stadium.
There needs to be a serious discussion by the city council and the Jagwires related to the return on investment for the Kahns when the NFL continues to schedule Jagwire games in England.
Stadium of the future…. or Las Vegas’ Alegiant with a twist.
Have some civic pride and nut up Jacksonville. The city needs an entirely NEW stadium and that Sh*tbox needs to be razed to the ground. These renovations are lipstick on a pig.
Watching basketball or a concert from stands that far away from the action is more and more the standard. Huge screens are put up to compensate so you might as well watch it home on TV or on the phone. Speaking of phone, stadiums are geared more and more towards fans watching their phones more than what is actually on the field or court and who will only respond when the crowd whipper (to be replaced by an app very soon) tells them to make noise and act a fool in front of the camera. Artificial fun for artificial people. I love the future.
What about the parking plan and you have new hotel coming.