Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan isn’t interested in dragging out a lengthy negotiation with the Jacksonville Jaguars about a massive renovation of EverBank Stadium. She says that the sooner talks are completed, the better.
“I’d like to get this done sooner rather than later,” Deegan told the Florida Times-Union. “I’d like to get this past us and move on to other issues that are important for our city.”
Deegan, who was elected earlier this year and took office in July, has been adamant that she wants to reach a deal with the Jaguars that ties the team to the City of Jacksonville for the foreseeable future. She’s also acknowledged that there’s no solution that doesn’t include significant investment of public money from the city.
The price tag for the entire project proposed by the Jaguars — which includes turning part of the parking lot into an entertainment district — is expected to come out to about $2 billion. The team said in the summer that it planned to ask the City of Jacksonville to pick up half that bill.
A shortened timeline on the negotiations would probably be welcomed by the Jaguars. Team president Mark Lamping said in June that the team would ideally love to have a deal done in the second quarter of 2024 — allowing the team to get official approval at the annual owners’ meeting in May.
The Jaguars are negotiating with Sidley Austin LLP, a law firm hired by Deegan to represent the city in talks. Any deal reached would also need approval from the Jacksonville City Council, which hired former Jaguars executive Michael Huyghue to represent its interests.
