JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council is expected to vote on the Stadium of the Future agreement in less than a month and currently council members are poring over the agreement before the vote.
At $1.4 billion, the Stadium of the Future project will be the largest building project in Jacksonville's history if it is approved by Jacksonville City Council, but this agreement could pave the way for major improvements to the city that go beyond the stadium.
"I think the Jags is very important to the city," said Randy White, the next President of Jacksonville's City Council.
White said he knows the value of having an NFL team in Jacksonville, but wants to verify how valuable the team said they are to the city.
"Some of the numbers they have is 26-28 billion in revenue that will come in over the next 30 years," said White. "I think it's important for them to be here, I think it's important to lock them in for the next 30 years, we just have to figure out how to do it that's best for them, best for the city and best for the citizens."
There is a safety mechanism to the city's investment into the stadium, the Jaguars would have to pay the city for breaking the lease if they relocate as a franchise.
Those payments would be based on a sliding scale. If the Jaguars break the lease by leaving Jacksonville in the first 14 years of the 30 year lease, the team would have to pay the city all $775 million of the city's contribution to the project. That figure declines by 6.25% every year after that, so if the team leaves Jacksonville 20 years after the lease starts the Jaguars would still pay the city $484,375,000.
The scale declines by about $48 million every year until reducing to zero dollars in the 30th and final year of the agreement. However, the Jaguars are not required to stay in Jacksonville for every home game. Part of the lease guarantees the Jaguars the right to play one home game a year outside of Jacksonville. The team has played in London 11 times since 2013.
As stated by the team when the initial agreement was proposed, the Jaguars will pay for all maintenance at the stadium and the city will keep revenue from city events at the stadium like the Florida-Georgia game, concerts or even the Final 4, which was proposed in the initial Stadium of the Future presentation.
In the agreement the city would have to agree to invest $150 million in community projects including parks along the river near the stadium. $30 million of that money would go towards development on the Eastside, a Jacksonville urban neighborhood directly next to the stadium, which continues a trend of Eastside development the team has participated in for a number of years.
The current draft of the agreement is that, just a draft. As of 5pm Thursday it has not formally been submitted as legislation to city council. After it is formally introduced it can be voted on by council, that vote is expected to happen on June 25.