Earlier this year, Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping laid out two potential options for the renovation of EverBank Stadium. The team could either play two years at another venue — like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville or Hodges Stadium at University of North Florida, perhaps — or four years at home during a lengthier and costlier construction project.
This week, he offered a third, more palatable option.
Lamping told reporters in London that the Jaguars are looking to “see if there’s anything we can do to maybe go from playing away for two years to just one year.”
“We don’t have that solved yet,” Lamping said, via John Oehser of Jaguars.com. “But we’re going to continue to do everything we possibly can to still get the stadium done on time and have it be the least disruptive as possible as far as our games in Jacksonville are concerned.”
The Jaguars have a lot of potential solutions for a temporary home, including even Daytona International Speedway, but there’s far from a perfect one. Gainesville and Daytona Beach are both more than an hour drive from Jacksonville. While Hodges Stadium is nearby, Lamping has said it’d cost “in excess of $100 million” to bring it up to NFL standards.
Playing away from EverBank Stadium for just one year, wherever that ends up being, would be a win for the Jaguars.
The first step, though, is reaching a deal with the City of Jacksonville on a renovation project in the first place. Any agreement with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan will also need approval from city council and then 75 percent of NFL owners.
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