Featured image credit: Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping is optimistic that the NFL team will only require one season away from EverBank Stadium while the venue undergoes major renovation work.
The Jaguars unveiled conceptual designs for its ‘Stadium of the Future’ project in June. The project, which reports have suggested could cost up to $1.4bn (£1.2bn/€1.3bn), is designed to inspire a transformation of Downtown Jacksonville and secure the Jaguars’ future in Northeast Florida.
Highlights of the plans include a subtropical Floridian park leading fans to a 360-degree main concourse area. The revamped stadium would seek to transform the game-day experience, with sustainability also a key factor of the plans.
The Jaguars later revealed more details of the timescale for the project, with the team seeking to pursue a two-year continuous renovation model for EverBank Stadium (formerly TIAA Bank Field). It has been envisioned that the team would need to spend two seasons away from the stadium while the work is carried out, but this could now be reduced to one.
The Jaguars have drawn up a longlist of stadiums that could serve as a temporary home, including Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, and Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach.
HOK Sports + Recreation + Entertainment has been selected as the architect for the project, with the team also including Impact Development and Management, AECOM Hunt and Barton Malow. Lamping said that discussions have taken place to limit the amount of time the team would need to spend away from EverBank Stadium.
“While it’s not final, we think there is the likelihood of a solution where we’d only have to be away for one season,” Lamping told the Associated Press. “That would answer a lot of questions because that becomes a little more normal. That’s what the (Chicago) Bears did. That’s what the (Minnesota) Vikings did.
“We’ve got some preliminary pricing. It’s a little more expensive than being away for two years, but it’s not exorbitantly more expensive. We think it’s probably reasonable. It’s still just a concept right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we have something to share with the city the next time we sit down.”
The proposal would enable the Jaguars to continue playing at EverBank Stadium during the 2026 season at a reduced capacity of between 40,000 and 45,000, before spending the 2027 campaign at a temporary home.
The project still requires approval from the City of Jacksonville, with the team hoping to receive the green light early next year ahead of the NFL owners meeting in May.
Lamping added: “We’d like to snap our fingers and have every game be played in Jacksonville and still get it done as fast as we can and at the lowest possible cost. But those two objectives aren’t compatible.
“So we kept pushing the architects and kept pushing the construction manager. Let’s see if there’s a way that if we can re-sequence some things, move some things around … We’re still validating the plan, but as of right now, if you talk to the architects and you talk to the construction people, can it happen? They would say, ‘Yeah, we think it can’.”
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