Jacksonville City Council approves Jaguars stadium agreement with minimal changes

Just over a year since the Jaguars announced its proposal for a renovated EverBank Stadium , eight months of negotiations with the mayor's office and three weeks of marathon City Council meetings, the city has agreed to a 30-year lease and funding agreement with the team.

In a 14-1 vote Tuesday, City Council approved the largest single spending development deal in city history at $775 million in stadium renovations and $56 million in an amended community benefits agreement. 

"I've had some calls over the past couple days, and we are the envy of the sports industry today," Ron Salem, outgoing council president, said before the vote. "...We all worked together to make the process work."

Football fans and Jacksonville residents have waited to know the inner workings of the deal for years — as it carries significant implications for the future of the Jaguars franchise and the financial health of the city.

Council member Mike Gay voted against the deal saying there was "a great deal wrong with it" and that council needed more time to "dig into it." Council members Kevin Carrico and Terrance Freeman abstained from voting because of potential conflicts of interest with their jobs outside of council, while council members Rory Diamond and Ju'Coby Pittman were not present for the vote.

When the Jaguars first disclosed its renovation plan last June, an internal memorandum showed a starting negotiation point where the city would foot 67% of the stadium renovation bill. The return would be in a surrounding "sports entertainment district" in which Shad Khan, the owner of the Jaguars, would pay 86% of the expenses. 

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Instead, the city focused only on the renovation plans and said the entertainment district would be discussed at a later date. 

The accepted deal puts the city responsible for 55% of stadium costs, which includes maintenance funding prior to the start of construction but not the cost of outdoor work .

The majority of the deal Mayor Donna Deegan's team negotiated came through City Council criticism unscathed. But, the popular community benefits agreement was not as successful, and the council conversation on how to fund the area surrounding the stadium is ongoing and will continue potentially through the next budget process. 

Still, the Jaguars investment is the largest in NFL history for a community benefits agreement. 

The Jaguars initially offered $100 million over the 30-year lease term and bumped its support to $150 million after the city proposed its own match to be distributed over two years. Deegan lauded the investment during town hall meetings educating the public on the deal last month, but members of City Council criticized the allocation before digging into her 2025-26 budget. 

"We have a $1.67 billion budget each year, and we spend four months going through it," Salem said in a committee meeting. "We're being asked to appropriate $300 million with two or three hours of debate. I think it's wrong." 

Council decided to split the city's share of the funding: $56 million is included in the stadium legislation and will go toward the renovation of Riverfront Plaza, Metropolitan Park, Shipyards West Park and the Flex Field.

But, the remaining $96 million originally meant to address homelessness, affordable housing and the Eastside neighborhood will be further debated. 

Deegan said she hoped they would revisit the funds when council ended its summer break July 17. 

"I would like that to be passed separately from the budget as part of this agreement," Deegan told reporters after the vote. "That's how we get matching funds. That's how we move together to make sure that this is honored for the entirety of the contract."

The funds were separated in part to allow the maximum number of council members the opportunity to vote on at least part of the funding, but Council members Carrico and Freeman still chose to abstain because their organizations could eventually benefit from the funding. 

Council member Jimmy Peluso, the downtown representative, said he was frustrated by the outcome. 

"It feels like I was a little cheated," Peluso said of the council members still choosing to abstain from voting despite the change to the benefits agreement. "It feels like our city got a little cheated."

In May, a University of North Florida poll found the community benefits agreement to be the most popular part of the deal.

Members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee spoke against the exclusion, saying the council was purposefully omitting the communities who may not even be able to afford tickets to enjoy the new stadium.

The city still has the chance to receive the remaining $32 million in Jaguars funding over the next few months. For every $3 the city includes toward the priorities in the budget, the Jaguars will match an additional $1, up to the originally agreed upon $150 million contribution. 

"It's a real incentive for the city to fund the entire community benefits agreement which make no secret about it, we wish they would have been packaged together in their entirety," Mark Lamping, president of the Jaguars, said after the vote. "It became apparent that it wasn't going to happen, and now we're gonna advocate as hard as we can, along with the mayor, to make sure that we get back to that full 300 million."

The deal will now head to the NFL owners meeting in October where it must receive support from at least 75% of team owners.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville passes Jaguars stadium renovation deal with Khan, Deegan