JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The buzz in Jacksonville is still in the air, 24 hours after city council’s historic vote approving the $1.4 billion Jaguars stadium deal.
The vote keeps the team in Jacksonville for 30 more years.
City leaders and fans celebrated the deal, including Councilman Matt Carlucci. The at-large council member is the only council person who voted on both the 2024 and 1993 stadium deals, and he still remembers the morning of the vote in 1993.
“I walked out to my driveway, picked up the newspaper, and it said 'big council vote today.' Above the fold, front page, [was] every council member's phone number. I got to city hall, my old city hall office, at 7:30 a.m. and started taking calls," Carlucci said. “There were actually more no’s than there were yes'."
It was up to the 19 council members to decide if Jacksonville was to become an NFL city.
“We passed it. 14 to five, our city back then needed a shot in the arm. And that was a great shot in the arm," Carlucci said.
31 years later, Jacksonville got another shot in the arm.
Carlucci, the only council member to vote on both deals was sure to thank those in the audience after Tuesday night's vote.
“I’m looking a bunch of veterans back in my day that really led the way," Carlucci said.
He thanked his former council colleagues in matching shirts who voted in '93.
Including, at the time, council president Warren Jones, who now sits on the Duval County School Board.
“Oh, my goodness. That's 1991," Jones said with a smile as he looked at an old picture of him and Carlucci.
“Had it not been for Matt, I wouldn't have served the second term as council president," Jones said.
“I couldn't quite muster the votes to go from Vice President to President," Carlucci said.
“So, he said, if I can't win it, I support Warren again. I tell him all the time. It's his fault, because I probably have more hair if I had only done one term," Jones said.
Jones can blame Carlucci, and the first stadium deal.
“The Jaguars walked away from negotiations, and I was concerned that we're going to lose this opportunity," Jones said. "And so, Don Davis was council president, and others encouraged him to get back together. They got back together, and we got a deal done and it wasn't easy."
Carlucci and Jones voted yes. 31 years later, they were able to share another yes.
“It's a brotherhood," Jones said.
“I learned a lot from my good friend Warren Jones, this job is not about just building buildings and shiny stadiums. It’s about the people that don't have a voice," Carlucci said.