Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry raised eyebrows earlier this week when he said that the Jacksonville Jaguars will have no choice but to find another place to play when TIAA Bank Field is undergoing a two-year renovation.
The candidates to fill Curry’s seat both pumped the brakes on that notion Thursday.
“During construction, I expect our team to play in Jacksonville as they have for nearly thirty years,” Democratic candidate Donna Deegan said in a statement, via the Florida Times-Union. “Terms of a deal will be decided thoughtfully and responsibly with input from all stakeholders, not at the height of a campaign.”
Republican candidate Daniel Davis shared a similar sentiment on Twitter:
These are going to be tough negotiations, but the @Jaguars playing out of town for two years is a non-starter for me.
— Daniel Davis (@DanielDavisFL) May 11, 2023
There’s no proposal for a stadium upgrade in place and negotiations are ongoing, so Curry’s assertion that the Jaguars will be forced out of TIAA Bank Field seems speculative at this point. However, both the University of Florida and University of North Florida confirmed that the Jaguars have contacted them about the possibility of hosting games in the future.
Deegan and Davis advanced to a runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in the March election. The runoff is scheduled to happen next week on Tuesday, May 16.
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