President Mark Lamping: (Opening statement) “We have reached an agreement with the league office for the 2020 season to play two home games at Wembley Stadium in London. Those games will be played on back-to-back weekends on dates to be announced during the schedule release in April. As part of that, we are pleased to announce that we are protecting both the Steelers and the Chicago Bears game, so both of those games will be played here in Jacksonville. As this relates to Jaguars season ticket holders, in addition to one less game, we are introducing, for the first time, variable pricing. The most significant aspect of this program is that for preseason games, the ticket prices will be reduced by 50 percent. We will also have our prime opponents priced slightly higher than our other season tickets. The net impact of this is that season ticket holders will be paying 15 percent less in 2020 than they paid in 2019. Why now? For teams like the Jaguars, we are entering a period of significant change within the league. This has been precipitated by the move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas into their new stadium, which will open this summer. The San Diego Chargers relocated to Los Angeles along with the St. Louis Rams relocated to Los Angeles. Both of those teams will experience the benefit of moving into their new stadium. All three of those teams were teams that were clustered in the bottom quartile of the league in terms of local revenue, which is a key metric for us. After moving into these stadiums, those teams will no longer be at the bottom of the league and will also have an impact increasing the level of local revenue that the average NFL team generates and makes our path to exiting the bottom quartile of the league more challenging, but we believe achievable. We are certainly seeing the benefits of Shad’s significant investment in a city-owned stadium, well in excess of $100 million focused on improving the fan experience. As a result of those investments, we are also in a position where we have been able to take the lead on bringing major events to Jacksonville. That is a real priority of ours and as you know, if you have been following what’s happening with the Jaguars, we’ve been bringing more large concerts to Jacksonville, highlighted by our announcement last week. In addition to the other music initiatives in terms of Daily’s Place, our partnership with London, our partnership this year with the Gator Bowl, which has put the Gator Bowl in a much stronger financial position, hopefully ensuring their longevity here in Jacksonville. And we have two major initiatives on the drawing board in terms of Lot J and the Shipyards. We need to continue to do more. We can’t do this overnight. These games in London will provide us with financial benefits during a much-needed time during the transition from where we are today until we open Lot J. But in addition to that, the city has received benefits through the economic impact of development through the partnership with London- and UK-based companies, as well as the increase in terms of UK-originated tourism. Finally, we’re more confident than ever that we can be the catalyst to help the Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville realize our full potential. Let me turn it over to Shad please.”
Owner Shad Khan: (Opening statement) “Hi, thanks Mark and good morning everyone. Thanks for joining today. I wish I could be there in Jacksonville, but we wanted to get this news out and that required me participating by phone, so I look forward to your questions. But, let me first make a couple of points. Today’s news is about London and what it means for Jacksonville, but make no mistake – winning is the top priority. Everything we’re striving to do for the franchise and the city is about winning and about building a franchise that expects to win constantly. I think most of you know, I just came back from the Super Bowl and obviously witnessed firsthand the energy of the fans and obviously the joy of Kansas City fans afterwards and I want that more than anything for the Jaguars fans. We’re not going to rest until we get there, but that doesn’t erase what we need to do here away from the game and to create and generate the revenues and be everything we can be here in Jacksonville. And we’re doing it in a way that benefits the city. Everything we’ve done is always with the city in mind – Daily’s Place, the Dream Finders [Homes] Flex Field [at Daily’s Place], improvement in the stadiums, major concerts, etc. I think the list goes on. Lot J is about the city and why the two games in London, while we embark on the biggest downtown project in recent memory, absolutely makes sense for us. We move downtown forward, we improve our local revenues and we continue to grow our profile internationally, and not just for the Jaguars but also for the city of Jacksonville. So, with that I think we can open it up for questions.”
Khan: (On the fans reaction to losing another home game to London) “I think if you go back when the first game was announced and really historically what that’s done for the city and done for the Jaguars. So, my expectation is that it should be very positive. Everything we’re doing helps the city, helps us, and that’s what you need a small market team to do to get on a competitive footing with all the resources you need to compete with the other big market teams.”
Khan: (On whether this is a one-year deal) “Well, I think, right now, this is about two games this season and, again, I think you have to – I’m a big believer you judge by actions and not just by words. I mean, we’ve talked about possibly playing two games. But you know, we’re not the sole judge here or the decision maker. I think it has to make sense for the league which they ultimately decide. But I mean right now, this is just about two games this season.”
Khan: (On whether the team expects the same economic benefits in the second game as the first) “Yeah, I think we – and Mark can give you some more details and granular information on that, we absolutely expect this to help us generate revenue, not only tickets but also our business partners and our commercial sponsors, so absolutely.”
Lamping: “Let me add to that if I could please. Actually, what this is going to do, not only is this going to double the benefit, it’s also going to increase it because we can take advantage of certain economies of scale with games being played on back-to-back weekends.”
Lamping: (On if the Jaguars expect an imminent announcement on the contract with London beyond 2020) “As Shad mentioned, our agreement with the league is for 2020 — it is the last of our eight years that we’ve played in London. It is not 100 percent within our control, but we have expressed our interest in continuing the arrangement with London. Whether that’s one game or two games, that remains to be seen. And we believe that London is of particular importance to us and growing importance to us as we go through the transition over the next several years where Lot J goes from just a vision to a reality.”
Lamping: (On the timing and how long they’ve weighed the decision) “As we mentioned, the league – one thing about the National Football League is it never stands still. I think there’s a wonderful example out there and it’s called Patriot Place. Patriot Place is a huge mixed-use development that was built on parking lots just outside of Gillette Stadium. Now you have to ask yourself the question, here you have undoubtedly the single most successful team in the entire National Football League in terms of their performance on the field. And yet even a team like that believes that it’s necessary to grow your revenue, to focus on winning, but at the same time be generating the type of revenue outside of the stadium that allow you to continue to compete within the league. So, the league is full of examples like that. For clubs like the Jaguars, we are entering an uncertain time. That uncertain time is related to three teams that, in the past, were teams that were with us at the bottom of the league in terms of revenue. They have taken steps that we would not consider, but they have taken steps to fix their revenue by leaving Oakland, by leaving St. Louis and by leaving San Diego. That has had an impact in terms of all the other teams that are where we are in terms of the league. And in terms of now, we know that Lot J, in conjunction with all the things that Shad has already invested in, those will continue to pay dividends for us. But we can’t snap our fingers and get Lot J opened tomorrow. So, as we’re waiting to go from where we are now, which is Lot J just a vision, to it actually being opened, we need to be looking for those opportunities to supplement our revenue situation, and we believe that London fits that bill. Not only is it the right time to do it, but it’s the right action.”
Khan: (On the possible competitive disadvantage of flying to 10 of 16 games) “I don’t think it’s a competitive disadvantage. I think you can — next time you see [Jaguars Head Coach] Doug Marrone or [Jaguars General Manager] Dave Caldwell, you can ask them. I think, if you look back here, yes, we’ve struggled and in seasons we won three games or around there, one of those wins was in London. So, I think it doesn’t put us at a competitive disadvantage.”
Lamping: (On whether the local revenue or lack thereof equates to on-field performance) “2018 was the best financial year in the history of the Jaguars. We sold 10,000+ new season tickets, we were able to effectively sell in a price increase of almost 20 percent, we had our strongest home schedule in many, many years. In terms of the available revenue, all of the revenue was available to us in terms of ticket sales that year, we achieved almost 97 percent of that. I think we had the potential to generate around 72 million dollars of ticket revenue and we actually generated about 70, so there was only a couple million dollars that was not achieved that year. And even with that as a baseline, if you forget about 2019 and if you grow from 2018, the impact of other teams that are continuing to be aggressive in terms of their actions, highlighted by the three new stadium teams that I mentioned earlier, we’re treading water. We’re not moving up in the league. We’re treading water and that challenge is only going to become more significant in the future.”
Lamping: (On where it stands with the incentives deal with the city on the Lot J development and the vision for the Lot J timeline) “We have a draft, a pretty significantly negotiated draft of the development agreement, which is in front of the city. We have been working closely with them to finalize that. We expect to reach consensus with the city at which point this proposal then goes to the DIA [Downtown Investment Authority] board for their review, comments and approval or not and then it goes to City Council. City Council will then review it, debate it, provide their comments and either advance it or not advance it. We are confident that this project will be one of many actions that can help downtown Jacksonville realize its full potential and hopefully we will be looking forward to cranes in downtown Jacksonville. Again, it is in the city, the DIA and ultimately, the city council’s hands to advance the initiative.”
Lamping: (On if there is a timeline on Lot J) “We would certainly hope that we would have a completed development agreement within the next 30-60 days. Following that, it then would advance to DIA and ultimately if it advances through DIA, it would make its way to City Council. We are anxious to get started.”
Lamping: (On if playing two games will strengthen the team’s foothold on London considering other teams are trying to get involved in London) “I do not think there is any question that it is very competitive. The league will have four games [in London] again this year. Many teams are seeing what Shad [Khan] identified eight years ago – London can be a great supplement for a market like Jacksonville. We are strengthening our position. We think the second game does that, but that is not the only benefit. We think it also comes at the perfect time in terms of our transition here in Jacksonville and also as it relates to supporting continued economic development and tourism between London and Jacksonville.”
Lamping: (On if Lot J will eliminate the need to play games in London) “I do not think there is any question that we will be in a much stronger position when Lot J opens up and then the Shipyards to follow after that and many other things that we have not even thought about yet. All of those things will make us stronger. I think it will put us in a position where we can take a step back and reevaluate what role London could and should play for the city of Jacksonville and for the Jaguars. Whether that means continuing at that level, maybe fewer games … but I think that is the time to do that evaluation. The good news as it relates to that process is no question a lot of these organic things and a lot of the initiatives off the field that Shad has invested in are going to continue to make us stronger and eventually reevaluate what role London plays. As I said earlier, every other team is doing the things that we are doing, and we can’t predict what the situation is going to be like for every other team.”
Lamping: (On if season ticket members will receive a refund) “Season ticket holders will not be charged for games that do not happen in Jacksonville, so no. Season ticket holders will not be charged for a game that occurs in London. Next year, Jaguars season ticket holders will be paying one less game than they did this year.”
Khan: (On the decision to let Tom Coughlin go and to retain Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell) “Tom was in charge and the last two years were not where we want to be. That’s where you have to start. Tom is iconic for Jacksonville. I think what he did at the start of the franchise and a couple of years ago, the first year he was there, we had a great season, but I thought we needed to make a change moving forward and that was really the key factor. I cannot emphasize that the results of the last season were not lost on me, so why not move in a different direction?”
Lamping: (On how much a new stadium deal could impact how they approach London going forward) “Two things. On our plate right now is, we have to remind ourselves, this is thanks to Shad’s belief and confidence in Jacksonville. Lot J is a major, major project for us to be followed by the Shipyards. The stadium as it exists today would, in all likelihood, not meet the needs of the city nor the football team 10, 15, 20 years from now. The key with these types of projects is to get ahead of them. We’re not in a dire situation right now, so we want to get ahead of the process. We have already begun the dialog with the city as it relates to doing a full assessment of the current stadium. Once we have that, we can begin the process of determining what does the stadium of the future in Jacksonville look like. Once we can come to a consensus on that, we can have a very important discussion on what is the right path to make that a reality in Jacksonville.”
Lamping: (On if that stadium discussion is reserved for several years down the road) “We’re just kicking off this evaluation process. That’s probably going to take 12 months. Following that 12-month process, we would be continuing to do an assessment of what are those things that are lacking in the stadium. What are those things that the community needs out of the stadium? What are those things that the Jaguars need? Once we have those thoughts collected, we’ll turn it over to some sports architects and see what their vision is for the stadium. I think this entire process of getting from where we are right now to at least an understanding of what the future may hold is probably 36-38 months.”
Khan: (On Tom Coughlin) “One final thought or reflection. We were a .500 team within reach of first place of the division right at the midway point. One game, two games in a row and we had the Minshew mania going, and then, boom. We lost five straight and then lost two of the last three. A 6-10 team last year that did a good job dealing with a number of the off-field issues, but the bottom line is that we really underperformed. That completed the thought plan of what we needed to do going forward.”
Khan: (On retaining Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell and what improvement would look to him in 2020) “The key question that I have to ask myself, ‘Is this the time to start over from where we were just two years ago?’ A game away from the Super Bowl. I know things change greatly year to year, but we’ve been closer more recently than many teams in the league. My feeling is that we can return to that place and go much faster to where we want to be if we can keep some things intact for 2020. We have a really good core of young players from our recent drafts. We have excellent draft capital. The message as the whole football organization as I met with them after our season was over, is the time to win is now. We have everything really in place with some of the changes to expect a good season. The results are going to speak for themselves a year from now, and we will all know if this is the right approach I took and I will take full responsibility for it.”
