JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city council is hosting a series of workshops, beginning Wednesday, discussing the proposed stadium deal between the Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville.
The agenda shows the Jaguars will have team representatives present, including President Mark Lamping.
The meeting agenda also includes a presentation of the financial responsibilities between team and city, a presentation from Jaguars President Mark Lamping and the Jaguars on the "team guarantees," and a presentation on the "non-relocation agreement."
City Council member Ken Amaro represents District 1 and said that he's very comfortable with what has been presented to city council so far.
"My foundation position is that we own the asset, so we have to protect the asset, whatever we do going forward it's about protecting our asset and finding a way to get a significant return on it," said Amaro.
In a current deal makeup draft, there is a safety mechanism to the city's investment into the stadium, which includes the Jaguars having to pay the city for breaking the lease if they relocate the team.
Those payments would be based on a sliding scale. According to a draft of the lease agreement, which is subject to change, 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.
Lamping said he didn't mind being questioned by council members because they're making sure that they protect the city's investment.
"The tough thing about this is everyone is trying to figure out how do we make sure we're protected in the event that we get divorced way down the road, we'd rather focus on the marriage," said Lamping.
Lamping said he has no problem with the clause about relocation and paying the city back because he said Jaguars owner Shad Khan has wanted to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville since he bought the team.
"One thing Mr. Khan did was wanted to make sure Jaguar football was protected in Northeast Florida for generations to come," said Lamping, "not only was that Mr. Khan's goal, but the community's goal, I'm excited we're on the cusp of turning that goal into reality."
The draft of the lease agreement calls for the city's portion of the stadium deal to be paid for by a half-penny sales tax that has been in effect since 2000 and is slated to continue through 2030. Council member Nick Howland called the plan creative.
"I like the plan, doesn't mean I'll vote for it," said Howland, "all I know is that I think it appears we have a deal that is going to keep the Jaguars here that is fair by the citizens of Jacksonville and taxpayers and will not raise taxes."
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.