Tag: Camping World Stadium

Shad Khan, Mark Lamping not rushing Jaguars’ 2027 stadium decision

Shad Khan, Mark Lamping not rushing Jaguars’ 2027 stadium decision

The Jaguars aren’t in a rush to establish their temporary home stadium for the 2027 season when renovations to EverBank Stadium will force the team to play elsewhere.

As things stand, the Jaguars view Camping World Stadium in Orlando and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville as their best options for housing matchups during the final year of the renovation project.

Per reporting on the deal, the Jaguars will also have the option to play up to three games in London during their season away from home.

But given the stadium agreement was passed by Jacksonville City Council only this week, and that the Jaguars are three seasons away from having to play elsewhere, determining the best option of those two locations isn’t high on the team’s list of priorities.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time on the due diligence of the two options,” Jaguars team president Mark Lamping said Wednesday. “We narrowed it down to Camping World and Florida Field. The only reason we didn’t do that is it’s a waste of energy at this point. We don’t have to make a decision right away.”

The Jaguars sent “fact-finding” teams, comprised of members of Jacksonville’s business and football operations personnel as well as representatives from the NFL, to Orlando and Gainesville to study each stadium within the 75 days leading up to Wednesday’s ceremony commemorating the stadium agreement.

A temporary lease on either facility, and final approval on the proposed renovations, will require 75% approval from NFL ownership. The latter vote is expected to occur in October.

The former could be held further down the road, per Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

“I want to do what’s best really for, you know, [so] they’re close enough for the fans. We want to be close,” Khan said. “It is way too early, okay? I mean, I think this thing is not even 24 hours ago.

“Frankly, if someone was asking me here [about a stadium choice for 2027], even Mark Lamping or something like that, it’s like, ‘Why are you wasting time?’ Okay? And it’s like, we only have so much time, energy, and money. You’ve got to be able to use it [to] get the best result.”

Regardless of which venue the Jaguars inevitably choose, Khan anticipates the NFL honoring Jacksonville’s local broadcasting, to allow fans who won’t travel to Orlando or Gainesville to watch games from home for free in 2027.

Orlando or Gainesville for Jaguars in 2027?

Orlando or Gainesville for Jaguars in 2027?

As proposed renovations to EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville inch closer to becoming reality, so does the need for the Jaguars to find a host stadium for the 2027 season.

Part of the agreement regarding renovations reached last week between the Jaguars and City of Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan was that the club would play away from its home stadium for one season, three years into the project, before the new-look facility opens for business in August 2028.

Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and Gainesville’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the latter being the front lawn of the University of Florida, appear to be the frontrunners to house the Jaguars that year.

“They’re both very good candidates,” Jaguars president Mark Lamping told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. “Gainesville is closer and we have a pretty deep relationship with the University of Florida and are thankful for their annual commitment to the Florida-Georgia game.

“As for Orlando, Camping World has hosted NFL games in the past and the NFL is very familiar and obviously comfortable with the management of the facility. And, logistically, for visiting teams, Orlando is a little less complicated than Gainesville. There are pros and cons to both sites.”

Camping World Stadium, which can hold 60,219 people, has hosted five of the NFL’s last seven Pro Bowls, seven NFL preseason games, the UCF Knights football team (1979–2006), college bowl games and plenty of other sporting events in its 88-year existence.

The venue is set to receive $400 million for renovations, with funding approved earlier this year. Construction is expected to be completed before the 2027 college football season, just in time to provide the Jaguars with a temporary home.

The CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, Steve Hogan, explained to the Orlando Sentinel that so long as those plans remain intact, Camping World Stadium would be suited to offer an NFL team such as Jacksonville a temporary home.

“We have stayed in pretty regular communication with the Jags over many years now,” said Hogan. “We have always pursued opportunities in the NFL space, whether it’s NFL Pro Bowls or preseason games. The ambition is to have future regular season games in Orlando.

“We want to make a case for the Jags and then anybody else for that matter.”

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium can occupy 88,548 people and is roughly half the distance from Jacksonville as the crow flies compared to Orlando. Logistics such as parking and lodging would be much different in the college town of Gainesville, though, and the University of Florida is currently exploring options to renovate the facility, too.

The Jaguars have not publicly proposed a timeline to determine a home field for the 2027 season, and both the Jacksonville City Council and 75% of NFL team ownership must approve the renovation agreement before construction on EverBank Stadium can begin.

Mark Lamping: Gainesville, Orlando more prepared for Jaguars than Daytona

Mark Lamping isn’t convinced Daytona International Speedway is the best candidate to be a temporary home for the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping will meet with Daytona International Speedway representatives on Friday to discuss the possibility of NASCAR’s premier racetrack potentially serving as a temporary home for the Jaguars in the future. He doesn’t sound convinced that much will come from the meeting, though.

In an appearance on 1010XL earlier this week, Lamping said Daytona isn’t the team’s top choice in the event that the Jaguars play games outside of Jacksonville during a renovation of TIAA Bank Field.

“One thing Daytona has going for it is that they’re used to big crowds,” Lamping said. “It’s pretty close. You just have to worry about going back and forth up I-95. So if you’re going to invest a bunch of money in a facility … they’ve hosted football there before.

“There will be some issues with that as it relates to infrastructure, so we’ll see how it goes. But again, that’s going to add cost to the project, so we’re going to have to figure out who pays that cost. The preference, if we are going to take games away from Jacksonville, we’ll look at all alternatives because you never know what you may discover, but as you sit here today, you’d have to say Gainesville and Orlando are more prepared to host NFL games right now than doing games at the speedway.”

The Jaguars are hoping to reach a deal with the City of Jacksonville on a massive renovation of their home stadium. While a four-year renovation of the stadium could allow the team to stay at TIAA Bank Field during construction, a two-year project would force the team to play elsewhere.

There are local venues in Jacksonville like Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida, but that facility would require a significant investment to be ready to host NFL games.

While the idea of the Jaguars playing games on the front stretch of NASCAR’s most iconic track is fun, it seems pretty low on the list of possibilities.

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5 stadiums that could host Jaguars during TIAA Bank Field renovation

If the Jaguars are forced out of TIAA Bank Field for a couple years, where would they call their temporary home?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the lookout for a stadium that can be their temporary home in future seasons, according to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

In an interview with 1010XL on Wednesday, Curry said that renovations of TIAA Bank Field could happen in 2025 and 2026, and the Jaguars will likely need to find a temporary home elsewhere while the construction is ongoing.

While Curry said that the Jaguars hope to keep the games in Jacksonville, that plan doesn’t exactly seem feasible. No stadium in the city outside of TIAA Bank Field can even seat 10,000 fans for a football game.

So if the Jaguars really do need to find a temporary home two years from now, where could it be? Here are the five most logical options:

Notre Dame bowl projections take hit as Big Ten/Pac-12 Return

With all Power Five programs returning to college football, Notre Dame’s bowl projections took a hit in terms of pedigree this week.

As we’ve been looking at bowl projections since even before the start of the 2020 college football season we’ve seen Notre Dame headed to a few interesting places but most recently it’s been a pretty consistent guess by most that the Orange Bowl would be where the Irish wound up.

That’s not the case anymore according to 247Sports as they released their latest round of bowl projections and have Notre Dame headed to a familiar destination after the inclusion of the Big Ten and Pac-12 to the projections for the first time.

A year ago Notre Dame beat up Iowa State of the Big 12 in the Camping World Bowl and that site is the same place 247Sports has them headed again, even though the game has been changed to the Cheez-It Bowl.

247Sports Bowl Projection for September 30:

Cheez-It Bowl
Camping World Stadium
Orlando, Florida
Notre Dame vs. Texas

Perhaps the notable part here isn’t that Notre Dame isn’t projected to go to the New Year’s Six but that currently undefeated Texas isn’t been seen as the winner of the Big 12 quite yet.

With that said, with hopes of the College Football Playoff at best and the New Year’s Six at worst, I’m guessing most Notre Dame fans would be pretty disappointed if the season ended with a second straight trip to Orlando.

Gallery: Everson Griffen’s 2019 season with the Vikings

It was reported on Wednesday that Everson Griffen had signed a deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Here are photos from his 2019 campaign.

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2020 Pro Bowl: AFC vs. NFC odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s 2020 Pro Bowl between the best of the AFC and NFC, with NFL betting odds, picks, tips and best bets.

The 2020 Pro Bowl is set for Sunday afternoon at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Kickoff will be at 3 p.m. ET as the best of the AFC and NFC do battle in the annual exhibition of the NFL’s top talents. We analyze the AFC-NFC odds and sports betting lines, while providing NFL betting tips and advice on the Pro Bowl matchup.

AFC vs. NFC: 2020 Pro Bowl preview, betting trends and notes

  • Six members of the Super Bowl-bound Kanas City Chiefs had been named to the Pro Bowl and were replaced this week. The San Francisco 49ers had four players who needed to be replaced.
  • The Baltimore Ravens, who earned the top playoff seed in the AFC, lead the way with 13 Pro Bowl representatives. Among them is MVP front-runner QB Lamar Jackson.
  • The NFC will be coached by Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and his staff. The AFC will be led by Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

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  • In addition to the absent Chiefs players, the AFC team needed to make six additional replacements due to injury or the withdrawal of selected players. The NFC needed five extra replacements.
  • Jackson led all players in fan voting. He passed for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns against just six interceptions this season, while adding 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
  • The AFC has won three straight Pro Bowls after the league reverted back to the conference vs. conference format following a three-year experiment with captains.

AFC vs. NFC: 2020 Pro Bowl odds, betting lines and prediction

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET.

Prediction

AFC 28, NFC 20

Moneyline (?)

I’m taking the value with the AFC (-106) as a slight underdog. Despite having to make more roster alterations than the NFC (-115), it will still be led by Jackson, who’ll be keen to put on a show for the fans who made him the top-voted player. He and the rest of the Ravens’ selections will also be trying to put behind them the sour taste of their early playoff exit.

New to sports betting? A $10 wager on the AFC to win outright would return a profit of $9.43.

Against the Spread (?)

Stick with the moneyline and PASS on the spread with the AFC spotted just 1 point at lower and less-appealing odds (+1, -110). Since 2000, only one Pro Bowl played under the AFC vs. NFC format was decided by a single point. As of publishing, there were no alternate lines available. I’d be willing to back the AFC at a number up to -3.5.

Over/Under (?)

Go with the UNDER 50.5 (-106). Each of the last three all-star exhibitions fell short of this projection, yet it’s the more profitable play with the Over set at a less-rewarding -115. Defense has shone in recent Pro Bowls and we may as well chase value.

Want action on this game? Sign up and bet at BetMGM. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Esten’s 2019 NFL betting record: 58-51

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll kicks off Pro Bowl Week at Orlando event

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll – who will also head the NFC roster – helped to kick off the 2020 Pro Bowl Week events in Orlando

The head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, as well as this year’s NFC roster, has arrived in Orlando ahead of the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl.

Carroll was joined by AFC coach John Harbarbaugh, the 2020 Legends Captains and local figures at Jones High School on Tuesday to welcome and officially kick off the Pro Bowl week of events.

Carroll and his staff were selected to coach the NFC team as the Seahawks finished the year with the best record in the conference to lose in the divisional round of the playoffs.

He will be joined by Seattle’s own signal-caller Russell Wilson and cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who has been called up as an alternate.

Carroll also confirmed linebacker Bobby Wagner would be sitting out Sunday’s game due to a knee injury.

The 2020 NFL Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the week. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. PT and the game can be seen on either ABC or ESPN and via a number of streaming services.

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Pete Carroll, Seahawks staff to coach NFC roster in Pro Bowl

Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks staff will be coaching the NFC roster in the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando on January 26.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was likely hoping to square off against John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl in Miami this year, but the 2020 Pro Bowl in Orlando will have to do instead.

After falling to the Packers last Sunday to end their season, Carroll and his staff will be coaching the NFC squad in the exhibition matchup. Harbaugh and his crew will head the AFC team.

The NFC and AFC Pro Bowl coaches are represented by the staff from the teams with the best records who were eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“Really to see the caliber of the other players,” Carroll explained Monday of the opportunity. “I mean, we’ve been with our guys for six months. To have a chance to compare what these guys are capable of looking like. It’s not going to be the most intense preparation that we’ll ever go through. We’ll be around them. I’m looking forward to the game as much as anything.

“For comparison purposes, it’ll be good.”

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner – who may not participate due to injuries – were selected to this year’s Pro Bowl roster.

The Pro Bowl is set to kick off at 12:00 p.m. PT on January 26 from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

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