OWNER SHAD KHAN, PRESIDENT MARK LAMPING AND JACKSONVILLE MAYOR
DONNA DEEGAN
STADIUM OF THE FUTURE APPROVAL MEDIA AVAILABILITY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2024
(Opening statement by Shad Khan)
SHAD KHAN: “Today’s vote at the league meeting was a vote for Jacksonville. The NFL
believes in Jacksonville. I believe in Jacksonville, and I know our fans and the people
throughout the community believe in Jacksonville. So now we’re about to make magic
happen in Jacksonville. Of course, nothing of this would be possible without the
partnership and the leadership of Mayor Deegan and her team. So, Mayor, thank you and I’ll
turn it over to you.”
(Opening statement by Donna Deegan)
DONNA DEEGAN: “Well, let me start by saying thank you so much, Mr. Khan. I am so
grateful to you and to you, Mark, for the great partnership. This is a momentous day for
Jacksonville. You always say, ‘Never bet against Jacksonville. Never count Jacksonville out.’
And the truth is, this is a can-do city, and I think we showed it again tonight with a 32-to-
nothing vote from the NFL. This is going to be an amazing ride for our city to be able to
create the Stadium of the Future. But beyond that, I also want to say the fact that attached
to that is a community benefit agreement that is a historic, largest of its kind, incredibly
generous, from this organization that will transform our community on so many fronts for
years to come. So, a great night for Jacksonville and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
(On his expectations for the stadium and for non-NFL events)
KHAN: “I think that’s really one of the key purposes of this stadium. How the venue is
designed, I think it’s going to be among the finest in the world. That’s what we expect from
it: to be able to hold world-class events, contribute to the city from prestige but more
importantly from revenue and really help the community grow. So, it’s a public venue and
the key purpose is to serve the community. I mean, we have high expectations: the design,
the function, all of that is to make it among the best in the world.”
(On the stadium’s impact on the revenue generated by the Florida-Georgia football game)
MARK LAMPING: “As you know, one of the things we did up front is we talked to important
stakeholders very early on in design process. We had multiple meetings with the athletic
directors both at the University of Georgia and University of Florida because we wanted to
make sure that this stadium served their needs. To ensure that with this great annual
tradition of the Florida-Georgia game stays in Jacksonville and I think this development
puts us in a position to be much stronger in our confidence that those universities will
choose to stay in Jacksonville because economically it is significantly better for them under
the new stadium than the old stadium.”
(On if there’s a sense of relief now that there has been a long-awaited approval)
KHAN: “Well, I think it’s the end of one process but the start of the other process. We’ve
been working at this, there’s been a huge amount of work done so really, it’s always a ‘yes’
of relief to get this behind us, 32-to-nothing, but a lot of work got into it to get us to where
we are today.”
DEEGAN: “Yeah and I will certainly add to that, that it was incredibly important to me, and I
think to all of us to move through this process as quickly and efficiently as we could so that
we could get on with construction and get on with this wonderful new stadium. So, for me it
is a relief to hear that vote. I think we all anticipated that it would be positive and that’s
thanks to a lot of work by these gentlemen [Khan and Lamping], but at the end of the day it
does mark a significant moment for us and a movement into the construction phase of this
process which is going to be exciting to watch.”
(On if the construction timeline has changed)
LAMPING: “No. If you if you go back to the beginning, one of the things that was important
when we did our town hall meetings – and it was clear from the from elected officials in
Jacksonville – they wanted to make sure that as many games as possible would be played
in Jacksonville. You may recall that our original plan had us being away from Jacksonville for
two seasons. We modified that to only be away for one year and one of the things we had to
do to be able to deliver that is move up the start of the construction. So, construction will
literally begin as soon as this NFL season ends.”
(On comparing the construction of the Stadium of the Future with previous stadium
projects he has been a part of including Busch Stadium in St. Louis and MetLife Stadium in
East Rutherford, N.J.)
LAMPING: “I learned a lot before I got involved with this project, and I think that helped us
in terms of our planning. I think the one thing that was different about this process is we
communicated more than we did on any other project. We started the planning really early.
We involved the public in the discussion very, very early, and then we spent a lot of time
ensuring that we understood what was important to our public partner and that our public
partner understood what was important to us. I think from the very beginning our interests
were aligned. We both worked really hard to get to ‘yes’ thanks to the mayor’s leadership,
thanks to Shad’s commitment and I think the results are telling. As we’ve said, there wasn’t
a lot of public drama. That’s not to suggest that there weren’t some very difficult
discussions and tough times behind the scenes, but neither party tried to gain leverage on
the other party by negotiating publicly and I think that’s a lesson that all communities can
learn.”
(On if the team has made a decision on where the team will play in 2027)
LAMPING: “Well, before answering that question I think it’s important that everyone
understand that our thoughts and prayers are with everyone central Florida as they deal
with the aftermath from Hurricane Milton. We have a lot of work to do on that decision. We
really didn’t have to spend too much time on it until the project became real. It just became
real about an hour ago. I anticipate that it’s going to take us at least through the end of this
regular season to have a really good handle on it, that at that point, we’ll have a
recommendation and then we have to work through the NFL, the same process that we
went through on the stadium. We haven’t done just surveys with our fans. We’ve done
surveys with our fans, we’ve done surveys with our sponsors, we’ve done surveys amongst
our employees. One of the most important constituents is our football operations. We have
a good feeling on what they want to do. We’ve also had ongoing discussions principally
aimed at Gainesville and Orlando. Until we get all of that information together, I think it
might be a little premature just to speak to just one aspect of it or another.”
(On if Khan will celebrate the stadium’s approval)
KHAN: “Yeah, I’m doing that Mark [AP reporter Mark Long], okay. So yes, I’m going to do that
okay. You know, actions speak louder than words and I think we’re going to have some real
action.”
(On Deegan’s determination to see the stadium project through to fruition amid doubt)
DEEGAN: “Listen, I’m just going to say I am a shameless homer, and I have been a huge fan
of this city my whole life, I’ve been a huge fan of the Jaguars since before we actually got the
team. I clipped every article, I took note of every person who said that this was never going
to happen. I remember Forbes came out with something that said there was ‘no chance’ we
were going to reach this agreement, so you betcha. Jacksonville is a ‘can-do’ city, as I said,
and I want the people of this city to really start believing that because it’s true and I think
that this is just a testament to what we have here. I mean, we are here in London to talk to
people about the gifts of our city – the fact that we have this wonderful NFL team.
Everywhere I go, people talk to me about Shad and about the Jaguars, and what big fans
they are here and how wonderful Jacksonville has been when they’ve come to visit, and the
river and the ocean and all the things that we have to offer. I’ll just say that it’s time that
people in our city really start to embrace what a wonderful home we have – not that we
don’t – but I think there are some people that still tend to go toward that attitude of, you
know, ‘Oh gosh, you know, we’re just Jacksonville.’ We are a city on the rise and the Jaguars
are a big part of that, and I can’t wait to take that victory lap. So hopefully I started that
tonight.”
(On if they are still in love with the franchise and city of Jacksonville)
DEEGAN: “Well, I think I already answered that question. So, absolutely it’s a yes for me. I
couldn’t be more excited to partner with Shad and with Mark, and with this organization.
They have been incredibly good to Jacksonville. I was talking to somebody here in London
today, that said, ‘You know, I know a lot of NFL owners,’ and I’m not going to name any
names, but they said, ‘You are incredibly lucky to have somebody who invests in the city the
way Mr. Khan does and wants the best for the city of Jacksonville,’ and I am grateful for that.
So, for me that answer is a resounding yes.”
(On if it was just the right time to get a new stadium deal done for the city of Jacksonville
and the Jaguars organization)
KHAN: “Well, I think the timing was right. Again, there was a lot of heavy lifting done. I’d
probably quote, Wayne wouldn’t mind, [former Jaguars owner] Wayne Weaver was there
before, when we got the deal with the city done at MEC [Miller Electric Center] and he said,
‘that was the second-most important day in the history of Jacksonville and the Jaguars. The
first was, obviously, when they got the franchise and the second day was when the city
council voted for the extension of the lease, and extension of the stadium.’ I really believe
that because it removes the uncertainty. We can say what you want to say, people believe
what they want to believe, so I think this is more proof. Then as we have the development
on the east side and really the growth, for me, we want the area we’re doing with the
stadium, the Four Seasons, the museum, I mean, we want that to be the jewel and the
Jacksonville crown frankly. We’re headed that way.”
(On how gratifying it was to have NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL ownership be
so supportive for his vision for the new stadium in Jacksonville)
KHAN: “Well, obviously I’m very gratified and thankful to them. I’m gratified, but not
surprised. We’ve been working at it for a long time, we’ve talked to all the owners one-on-
one. Obviously, Roger’s been highly supportive and a big part of it. So, I think it’s great to get
to this point.”
(On if the Four Seasons project is still on track and if there is any update on the sports
entertainment district/fairgrounds)
LAMPING: “Yeah, the Four Seasons project, which is obviously the hotel and the
residences, there’s a new office building. You’ve driven by the site, we’re up to floor four on
that office building and probably have it topping out within the next few months. There’s
work being done on the renovation of the marina and the marina services building. That
project continues on track. As far as the fairgrounds are concerned, absent the hurricane,
there was actually groundbreaking that was scheduled and we expect to close on the final
purchase of the fairgrounds, Shad expects to close, in January of next year, then we’ll see
what happens from there. As far as the sports and the entertainment district is concerned,
that is something that we talked about at the very beginning. It seemed best to all parties to
try to uncouple those, it may have made it just more complicated to get the stadium deal
done. I think there’s a couple of things that I think most people agree on, Downtown
Jacksonville needs an entertainment district. That hasn’t changed over the course of the
past five years and really the only thing that has changed is it’s probably going to be more
expensive to do it than it was four or five years ago. It needs to happen. We seem to think
that the sports complex might be the best location for it. But those things need to happen
in the right time. I can tell you, at least from my perspective, our plate is pretty full right
now. We have to do all of these projects right and the focus right now is on completing the
shipyards and the Four Seasons. But I have no doubt that downtown Jacksonville will have
a sports entertainment complex. It’s just a question of when, not if.”
(On why it was important for the Jaguars to pay for the cost overruns)
KHAN: “Well, first of all, we’ve done other projects with the city like the scoreboard, the
pools a number of years ago, Daily’s center. All of those, we were responsible for the
overruns. So really, it’s very important that we had the design done upfront, we know what
the costs are, so we minimize. Otherwise, we’re responsible for them.”
LAMPING: “I don’t want to correct it. We would’ve loved the fact if the city said they would
cover the cost overruns, but that is not the market. You’ve mentioned Nashville, you
mentioned Buffalo, all of those communities the team takes 100 percent of responsibility
for the cost overruns. At the very beginning of our negotiations, it was important to us that
we controlled the process, and it was important to the city that their investment was kept.
That is very typical, that’s what the market is in the National Football League, and I don’t
think we could’ve got a deal with the city if we weren’t covering the cost overruns.”
DEEGAN: “That’s probably true.”
(On the plan for playing international games in the future)
KHAN: “I don’t know if we have any plans at this moment.”
LAMPING: “Yeah, what that was there is there had to be some definition to what the limits
were because we’re entering into a new lease. The old lease really didn’t address the
international games. So, what we basically agreed to was to continue sort of the status
quo, which right now, we’ve been playing one home game a year and the NFL on a every
four-year basis can ask us to play a second game. So, during these first two years we had to
have the ability to move up to three games. We have no commitments, that’s just to set a
maximum. Then in 2027 when we’re not playing in Jacksonville, it was important to us that
we had some lever if we run into scheduling difficulty in the stadium we’re going to be
playing. We don’t know where we’re going to be playing yet, and that lever that we have if
we run into scheduling problems could allow us to play up to three games in 2027. Those
are just limits, that is not what our plan is at this point. I’m sure those plans will be released
when they’re done, because quite honestly they’re not done right now.”
DEEGAN: “If I could just add to that just so it’s clear, I think it’s really important to
remember we aren’t going to have any less home games than we have now. That was the
agreement that we made: that we would not have any less home games than we have now.
I think that was a good starting point for us because we don’t know what the NFL may add
going forward. But I think that’s one thing that we wanted to make sure that the fans knew
and that was the home games that we currently have we will continue to have.”
(On how they were able to participate in today’s vote being that it was in Atlanta and they
are in London)
KHAN: “We were represented by Tony [Chief Football Strategy Officer Tony Khan] and for
the family for me, and then Megha [Executive VP and Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh]
represented the team so they were there.”
(On if they got a call saying all 32 owners voted in their favor)
KHAN: “Yeah, I think we got a call from the league and also from them.”
STATEMENT ON NFL OWNERS’ VOTE ON THE STADIUM OF THE FUTURE
It’s official! Following the unanimous vote of the National Football League team owners today, the Stadium of the Future will move forward as planned. With today’s vote, it is certain that the Jaguars will thrive in Jacksonville for decades to come, and stadium patrons can expect a world-class experience for both NFL and non-NFL events alike.
The Stadium of the Future is a complement to the tremendous growth happening in Downtown Jacksonville, which includes the completion of riverfront parks through the Community Benefits Agreement, and the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Jacksonville which will serve as the centerpiece of the Jacksonville Shipyards development. The stadium transformation will commence in early 2025, with a planned grand opening in August 2028.
The Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville are grateful to the NFL owners and NFL staff, Jacksonville City Council and other stakeholders who worked diligently to bring this historic agreement to fruition. As we celebrate 30 years of Jaguars football this season, we now look forward with immense pride and enthusiasm to the next 30 years.
Shad Khan, Owner, Jacksonville Jaguars:
“Never doubt Jacksonville. That was my message in the summer to Mayor Deegan, the Jacksonville City Council and our residents, and I am humbled and grateful that my fellow NFL team owners agree. Today’s League approval of our Stadium of the Future plan means we will realize our vision for a reimagined home of the Jaguars in Downtown Jacksonville, scheduled to open in 2028. The venue will be world-class by every definition. It will impressively serve the Jaguars and their fans, attract major sports and entertainment events to our region, and serve as an economic catalyst for decades to come. It also means a new and vibrant Downtown Jacksonville that once may have seemed unimaginable will indeed come to life. I send my deepest appreciation to all who believed, and especially to everyone who did the hard work to make this happen. We have much more hard work ahead, but a lot to be proud of today. Celebrate!”
Mayor Donna Deegan:
“With today’s vote by the NFL, we are on the cusp of taking a huge leap forward and showing once again that Jacksonville is a can-do city. We will soon have a world-class stadium for our citizens to enjoy, and we are making historic investments that will transform our community, realize the dream of a vibrant downtown, and reinvigorate our riverfront. I’d like to express my profound thanks to the League, to Shad Khan, and to the entire Jaguars team. Together, we are creating a bright future for our city.”
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