CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER CHAD JOHNSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025
“I’ll give an update on the stadium construction and where we start and then open up the
questions. But I wanted to start before we go by talking a little bit about Monday night.
Number one, the atmosphere was unbelievable. The fans showed up. It was a packed
house. You’ve heard from our coaches, you’ve heard from our players that that had an
impact on the overall experience, and they’ve talked a lot about that over the past week. We
have another game coming up here this Sunday. We want to create that exact home field
advantage, and what was awesome about Monday night, too, is everybody stayed.
Everybody stayed till the end. They saw an unbelievable finish. If you look at—I know many
of you have seen the television ratings, the television ratings were through the roof. I think
the stat I saw was the sixth-best Monday night football game since 2006. So, people all over
the country are watching, people here are watching, and that’s awesome. I’m sure you had
a great time watching that game, but if you were here, I love seeing the videos the fans had
posted of the atmosphere in the stands. I saw strangers hugging strangers, and I got beer
spilled on me. I was out on the club patio, and I didn’t care. It was awesome because
people were just so excited about that moment, and it created a special opportunity for
Jacksonville, and we really showed up and showed Jacksonville in a tremendous light
across the country. And we want to make sure fans know we still do have tickets for
Sunday, and we can provide that same atmosphere for everybody because again, the
Jaguars don’t play for another five weeks after this Sunday. So, this is a send-off game for
us. It’s the last time to see this team perform here at EverBank Stadium for five weeks, and
we really want to welcome everybody back, but I applaud the fans, I applaud our staff and
everybody for creating that tremendous atmosphere. And it was just a great thing to see in
person.
From a stadium construction standpoint, too, our fans got to experience the future. They
got to experience Grand Staircase One and what that was like for the first time to see the
evolution of what’s happening. The best part of that staircase is when you get up top to the
staircase and you see how wide the concourses are, because that’s the expansion that
you’re going to see throughout the stadium here. So, they were able to really get an
understanding for what that looks like. What does that mean for this upcoming game for
Seattle? We’ve expanded at Gate 1. We’ve moved everything south. We’ve expanded at
Gate 1 and created our second Super Gate. So, we have Gate 4 and Gate 1 now, which are
both Super Gates and fans can enter either of those and go directly into the Fan
Entertainment Zone, where we have all the activities that take place and all of our sponsors
and partners that are there, and that wasn’t the case the first couple games. You had a
different route. You had to go through Gate 4 or Gate 7. So, we’ve opened up a better
access point for our fans. With that Grand Staircase, the ramps at Gate 1 will now be
coming down. So, for this game, they will be coming down. So, from the main concourse
level to the ground level, there will no longer be that ramp that you can use to egress as
you’re leaving the building or come on up through and into the building. So fans will choose
to go up the stairs at Gate 1, or they will go into the South End Zone where they can use the
escalators to go up to the main concourse. One thing we experienced this past Monday is
we had a lot of folks come in early to go to the Fan Entertainment Zone, and they had East
or West Club tickets and getting to the East or West Club is a little different when you’re in
the Fan Entertainment Zone. So, you will have to go up to the main concourse and then go
through the main concourse and up to the ramps to get to the lower club or the upper West
or East Gallagher Club. So that’s a little different here. We’re seeing that the fans have a
little bit of a different path to go through there. The ramp will be accessible to go from the
main concourse up, so you will be able to go up into the clubs and up into the upper level or
back down. It’ll just be from that main concourse level to the ground level that’s different.
From that standpoint, we’ve talked a lot about that the in-bowl experience hasn’t changed.
That’s not going to be any different here. The ability once you get in and to move around
through the stadium will still continue to be the main concourse. From an egress
standpoint, we do encourage fans to use Gate 1 and 4 as much as possible because that is
the highest level of entry and exit points and the easiest way in and out. However, all four
gates, as you have seen the last couple games, will be open for fans to enter and leave the
stadium. So that’s the main change that we’ll experience here is that South End Zone
experience with Gate 1, with the Grand Staircase and with the ramps coming down. So, for
that, I can be free to take any questions.”
(On how the stadium will look different during Week 11 once the Jaguars are playing at
home again) “Yeah, it’s a great question. As far as the work, not only was last week busy
with a Monday night football game, we had a Saturday concert, a Sunday football game,
two All Elite Wrestling matches this past week. So really busy as far as the work that’s going
on from an entertainment standpoint, that puts a pause on the construction. There will be a
lot of work that’s being done right now. It’s still going to focus on a lot of the subsurface
work and the canopy roof structure work, so it won’t impact a lot of the experiential
elements of the game. But for the construction crew to have five uninterrupted weeks of
getting work done outside of getting prepared for Florida-Georgia, as you mentioned, there
will be a lot of work. So, I anticipate before we come back that next game that we’ll have to
give another update as to what other changes you’ll experience in the building.”
(On if there are any “drastic changes” in the renderings of the Stadium of the Future) “No,
the most recent renderings are nothing more than an evolution from the last set of
renderings we had back, I think in ’23 and ‘24. There aren’t a lot of significant changes
there. Some of the comparisons made were to some much older versions that weren’t part
of the current drawing package, and things there too. So, there’s nothing significant that’s
changing in those documents, just slight evolutions to the actual project as you get in and
start doing the work.”
(On how in the loop the team is regarding the Florida vs. Miami basketball game in VyStar
Arena) “Yeah, so number one, we work really closely with the city of Jacksonville and
Legends Global, formerly ASM Global, on the scheduling of everything, understanding that
there’s potential for flex games and all the other things that happen, and most importantly,
the shared parking that exists throughout the stadium. So, we’re in sync with them on all
those events. Sometimes we move some parking around, as an example, staff parking for
the Jaguars may move to a different place because they may use that for a basketball game
or things there, and then if there is, in fact, flex games that happen throughout the year,
then we know we have to work through the scheduling. But the Jaguars take priority on all
those events as far as parking and making sure our guests are accommodated, and our
partners at ASM, Legends Global, understand and work with us really closely on that.”
(On if the canopy shade is being reduced) “No, I’m not aware of the canopy shade being
reduced in any way.”
(On how the Jacksonville Fair will affect things) “Yeah, so this is the last year the fair will
impact things and we’ve dealt with that for the past 14 seasons that I’ve been here. The fair
really impacts the people that park here in Lot P, and we’ve proactively reached out to those
people, relocated their parking, provided make-good incentives for them because of the
inconvenience. All of our fans who do have a ticket do get complimentary access into the
fair. So, they can either go through or have access to the fair pre or post [game]. So, we do
work really closely to make sure it minimally impacts the people, but it’s really mainly from
a parking standpoint. And then if you are parking in Lot Z or the garages over here walking
through, making sure you’re not prohibited from that space, and that’s why we allow you
the complimentary access.”
(On if there has been an uptick in ticket sales since Monday Night’s win) “Well, number
one, let’s go back to Monday night first. Coming off of San Francisco going into Monday
night, you heard a lot of talk about creating that advantage and ticket sales were for
fantastic that entire week. We’re starting to see the same thing here. They generally pick up
on Thursday of the game week right now. So, we anticipate our busiest days to be now
through the weekend, but we have moved thousands of tickets just since Monday night’s
game. We do have tickets in every price category still. What you saw going into Monday
Night Football is we ran out of the entry-level price points, and that’s why we opened the
standing room only seats early, so that fans still at least had an entry price point if they
weren’t looking at some of the midfield or lower-level aspects right now. I don’t anticipate
going into standing room only for this upcoming game yet, but if we do have another couple
of good days, then we may turn and look to that, but it’s been a busy couple days. And
again, watching the content and watching people share and post about that experience
right now and seeing, and I try to read every comment. I try to read every comment and look
at these, and just seeing everyone’s responses and inviting friends out, and what’s great to
see is we have season ticket members calling to buy additional. They’re bringing people in
with them, and those are the ones that are showing up every game and not reselling their
tickets, making sure they’re here supporting. So, I’m pretty comfortable that they’re
bringing in great Jaguar fans with them as well.”
(On what he is hoping that fans see construction-wise in Week 11) “Again, as far as
construction goes, they’re not going to see a lot of different work being done outside of the
subsurface work and the canopy structure work that’s happening. They won’t be doing any
of the interior construction yet. That’ll all start to happen immediately when the season
ends. February of 2026, our staff will all leave the stadium and move across the street into
the office tower. So that’ll be February 2026. That then opens up all of the spaces in the
stadium for them to start doing interior work. So that interior work won’t start happening
until next year, but it’s very sequenced out, and immediately when the season’s over, that’s
why we picked February. Hopefully that season goes longer than usual and we can move
out, get in there and let them start doing that work, and then it’ll be all full go until 2028
when we get back into the stadium.”
(On if the locker room and weight rooms will move out of the stadium due to construction)
“Locker rooms, weight rooms will stay. It will involve a lot of the meeting spaces, the
Jaguars’ offices and things that will turn into hospitality spaces for the Stadium of the
Future. So, those meeting rooms and post-game meeting rooms that you guys participate
in after the game, those will turn into club lounges. That’ll be part of the sellable assets that
we have for the stadium. So that work will all start. We’ll keep the locker rooms and weight
rooms so that we can still play that 2026 season in that limited capacity and then as soon
as that 2026 season ends, then that work will start there.”
(On if the locker rooms and weight rooms will be redone after the team is finished playing in
2026) “After we get finished playing the games here, while we’re taking that season
elsewhere, they’ll do work on all that other space as well.”
(On whether there were complications with the crowd size and construction on Monday
night) “It was the biggest crowd since construction started, and it was one of the biggest
crowds since Shad’s [Owner Shad Khan] owned the team, too. The only games that we had
more people were the two playoff games, the Buffalo Bills in 2017, the LA Chargers in 2022,
and the Tennessee Titans game that clinched the playoffs in 2022. Those are the only three
games that had a higher attendance than we saw Monday night. So that game performed
really well. We have some work to do, educating people on entering and leaving the
building, making sure number one, get here early. Most of the issues that I’ve been made
aware of were folks arriving late, eight o’clock time for an 8:15 kickoff. We didn’t hear really
anything for folks that arrived early. And then leaving the building, making sure they know
that depending on where you’re coming or going from, what’s the best way to get in or out.
So, we’ll have some people that we’re adding as far as additional wayfinding, additional
pacing for people to get on and off ramps and elevators and things like that that exist so
that we can get them out swiftly and safely. But overall, it was a great experience, and when
you have a full building like that, that stays till the end, and everyone leaves at the exact
same time right after the final whistle, you’re going to have some congestion issues. That’s
the nature of the beast for that, and I hope that that continues to happen every game from
here on out.”
(On the timeline for whether the team will play the 2027 season in Orlando or Gainesville)
“Right now, what you’re probably hearing or reading is that in December, the owners may
look to approve. It could be before that as well. The league has all the information they
need. They’re going through their diligence with the ownership, and then as you probably
know, it takes an ownership vote to approve that. So, we’re hoping sooner than later, but we
don’t have a defined date on that yet.”
(On his reaction when QB Trevor Lawrence slipped) “So, I will tell you that this is the first
game this year that I watched out with the fans. So, I was out on the West Club patio, the
Lower West Club patio. So, I was standing out there watching, and I’m pretty mellow
usually. So, he slips, I don’t say much. He gets up, he scores. I just kind of looked sideways
and then some guy, I have no idea who, just grabbed me and hugged me. No idea who he is,
and next thing you know, everyone around’s high high-fiving, and I saw a few of those videos
of people when they posted it, like what their reaction to the people’s reactions out there. I
gave Tom McManus a bunch a bunch of grief on a video he posted of his daughters
celebrating and everything and those are the moments that are special that you just can’t
reenact. But you heard a gasp, where I was – you guys if you were in the press box, the
windows may not have – but he slips and you heard this just a gasp of silence, and then
three seconds later, the loudest scream you could ever imagine happening right at that
moment. So, it was just—it was so organic but so energizing to see, and like I said just a
second ago, I hope that, that we see that every game the rest of the way that the crowd is
here till the end and celebrate.”
