Tag: TIAA Bank Field

Jaguars could stay at TIAA Bank Field with 4-year renovation

Jaguars president Mark Lamping said the team could avoid a temporary relocation with a lengthier, more expensive renovation.

The logistics of a potential renovation of TIAA Bank Field were put under the microscope last week when Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry told 1010XL that the Jaguars will need to find another place to play for two years during the project.

Jaguars president Mark Lamping says that assertion is premature and he offered an alternative in an interview with Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union.

Another option, also at a more expensive price tag, would be for the TIAA Bank Field renovation to take place over four years without the team going anywhere.

But there’s a caveat to that, too. It would mean a start-stop construction process that Lamping says would also increase the stadium deal by over $100 million. It’s another reminder this stadium issue is an onion with a lot of layers.

Last week, the Times-Union reported that the Jaguars have broached the subject of a temporary relocation in conversations with the University of Florida and University of North Florida.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. boasts a capacity of 88,548, but is more than 70 miles from TIAA Bank Field. While UNF’s Hodges Stadium is significantly closer, it seats just 9,400 fans.

Lamping said bringing Hodges Stadium up to NFL standards would cost “in excess of $100 million.”

“Whether you build a new stadium or renovate an old one, it’s going to result in a disruption for the team and its fans,” Lamping told the Times-Union. “The degree of disruption we’ll experience in Jacksonville with a stadium renovation and how many seasons will be impacted is a function of the scale of the renovation, the cost and the renovation schedule. The Jaguars are committed to a path that results in the least disruption to the team, our fans and the community.”

Negotiations between the Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville regarding a stadium renovation are expected to ramp up after a new mayor takes office in July.

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Jaguars have talked to UF, UNF about relocating games for renovation

The Jaguars are, at the very least, preparing contingency plans in the case that they can’t use TIAA Bank Field during renovations.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have contacted the University of Florida and the University of North Florida to discuss the possibility of games being relocated from TIAA Bank Field during future stadium renovations, the schools each confirmed to the Florida Times-Union.

On Wednesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said in a radio interview that a two-year renovation of the Jaguars’ home stadium may happen during the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and that “the team will have to play somewhere else” during the project.

While the veracity of those claims by Curry have been called into question — especially when the Jaguars don’t even have a renovation proposal yet — the Times-Union’s report shows that the team is, at the very least, preparing contingency plans.

“The University of North Florida has had initial contact from the Jaguars, and we understand the team is exploring many options. No decisions from any side have been made, and we look forward to future discussions,” a UNF spokesperson told the Times-Union in a statement.

Similarly, Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said that the Jaguars “expressed interest in having future conversations about where they would play games during the renovation.”

UNF does not have a football team, but the school’s soccer teams and track and field teams play at Hodges Stadium, a 9,400-seat facility in Jacksonville.

The Gators’ Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is significantly larger with a capacity of 88,548. However, “The Swamp” in Gainesville, Fla. is a more than 70-mile drive from TIAA Bank Field.

On Thursday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office told Spectrum News 13 that the city’s venues staff hasn’t had any conversations with the Jaguars about the possibility of using Camping World Stadium.

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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:

Lenny Curry: Jaguars may play elsewhere during 2-year renovation

Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry says the Jaguars are likely to play at an alternate site during the expected renovation of TIAA Bank Field.

The Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be nearing a massive renovation of TIAA Bank Field. According to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, that project will likely force the Jaguars to play elsewhere for a couple years.

“Best case scenario, I expect that the renovation will take two years, two seasons,” Curry said Wednesday on 1010XL. “The team will have to play somewhere else. The goal would be to play somewhere in Jacksonville. Those discussions are happening. Two years is the goal.

“I know that [the Jaguars] are considering certain sites that are local that could accommodate them for at least two years. … The goal is to play those games in Jacksonville. I know they care about that.”

No deal is currently in place for the renovation, although negotiations between the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars are ongoing. In October, the Florida Times-Union reported that the price tag for the project is expected to be in the $600 million-$1 billion range.

Curry, whose term as mayor ends on July 1, said that he doesn’t expect a deal to be wrapped up before the next administration takes over. He also said that the renovation will make TIAA Bank Field look like “a brand-new stadium” and that 2025 and 2026 are likeliest to be the seasons when construction takes place.

Any deal between the mayor’s office and the Jaguars will also need to be approved by both the Jacksonville City Council as well as the other NFL team owners.

While Curry says the Jaguars hope to play games at an alternate site in Jacksonville, there aren’t many options. Even if the team hopes to follow in the Los Angeles Chargers’ footsteps by playing in a tiny stadium (the Chargers played in the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park for three seasons), there’s no facility aside from TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville even close to that size.

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Jaguars president Mark Lamping not surprised by rat problem

Jaguars president Mark Lamping wasn’t surprised by the team’s rat problem or its horrible grades from the NFLPA, but he says solutions are on the way.

Many were shocked when an NFLPA survey revealed earlier this week that players on the Jacksonville Jaguars complained about a rat infestation in the team’s locker room during the 2022 season. Team president Mark Lamping, however, was not among those taken aback by the D-minus grades given by the NFLPA for the state of the team’s locker room and training room.

“I wasn’t surprised at all by the score,” Lamping told First Coast News on Thursday. “In fact, we’ve known about it for quite some time and we have a lot of work to do on this facility.

“If you look at the teams that scored the highest, they all had the same thing in common: There are new stadiums and new training facilities.”

The Jaguars hope the issue will be partly solved by Miller Electric Center, the team’s new training facility due to open this summer. Lamping also hopes that the new facility will set the stage for TIAA Bank Field, which he described as “substandard by NFL measures,” to get necessary renovations.

While the team is still working through designs for a facelift for the stadium, the expected cost is reportedly in the $600 million to $1 billion range.

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Poll: Voters don’t want to split cost for Jaguars stadium upgrades

Renovations of TIAA Bank Field are expected to exceed $600 million and Jacksonville voters don’t want to foot the bill.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still working through their plans for a renovation of TIAA Bank Field, but voters aren’t interested in picking up the bill.

According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, a poll of likely voters in Duval County from the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab found that 61 percent were opposed to the idea of the public splitting the cost of the project.

In October, the Florida Times-Union reported that the price tag for the renovation is expected to be in the $600 million to $1 billion range. What percentage the Jaguars will ask from the City of Jacksonville remains to be seen.

While voters aren’t excited about the idea of taxpayers shelling out millions for the stadium renovation, their opinion of the Jaguars was overwhelmingly positive.

The poll found that 86 percent approved of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, 84 percent approved of head coach Doug Pederson, and 71 percent approved of owner Shad Khan. The poll also found 84 percent said that it’s important for the city to keep the Jaguars.

The Jaguars’ lease at TIAA Bank Field — which will soon be renamed — is set to expire after the 2029 season.

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Josh Allen: Our fans have been waiting a long time for meaningful games

Josh Allen is happy Jaguars fans finally have something to cheer about.

In Josh Allen’s first three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team lost 39 games and finished last place in the AFC South all three years. This season has been a much different story.

The Jaguars finished the 2022 regular season by rattling off five straight wins for the first time since 2005. The grand finale was a 20-16 division-clinching win over the Tennessee Titans in front of more than 70,000 fans on Saturday night.

It’s the type of passionate, raucous crowd that Allen never had a chance to see in his first three seasons. And he expects he’ll see it again this Saturday night when the Jaguars host the Los Angeles Chargers in a playoff game.

“Our fans have been waiting for a long time [for the team] to play in meaningful games at home, and now we have two back-to-back” Allen told Mia O’Brien of 1010XL on Tuesday. “I know they’re going to be there. I know they’re going to be loud. I know they’re excited. Heck, I can’t go nowhere without somebody telling me how excited they are.

“The thing about it is we’re excited too, and we have all the confidence in the world that we can go out here and win those game. To have [the fans] go out there and be out there cheering and screaming all night long is really remarkable and we’re excited for them.”

The game against the Chargers will be the fifth home playoff game in Jaguars history. The only other one in the last two decades was a 10-3 win over the Buffalo Bills in January 2018.

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Chilly night expected in Jacksonville for Chargers vs. Jaguars

It’s not often Jaguars fans have to bundle up for a home game, but Saturday is expected to be a cold one.

It’s not often that Jacksonville Jaguars fans need to bundle up for a game at TIAA Bank Field, but an upcoming playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers looks like it’ll be the exception.

While temperatures are expected to climb into the 70s this week in North Florida, a cold front in the forecast is projected to cool things down over the weekend.

The Weather Channel is predicting a high of 55 degrees and low of 34 degrees in Jacksonville on Saturday. The AccuWeather forecast has the high at 52 and low at 36.

With kickoff scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET — the first ever night playoff game at TIAA Bank Field — it could be one of the coldest home games in Jaguars history. The record belongs to a December 2010 game against Washington that was 38 degrees at kickoff. The top 10 coldest games in Jaguars history were all on the road.

The Chargers are currently listed as a one-point favorite over the Jaguars on BetMGM.

Doug Pederson, Trevor Lawrence commend ‘electric,’ ‘special’ crowd

Jaguars fans showed up and packed TIAA Bank Field on Saturday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night was the most consequential regular season game in franchise history. In the lead up to the game, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence asked fans to “pack the Bank.”

Boy did they ever.

The 70,050 tickets distributed for the game at TIAA Bank Field was even more than the team’s 2017 home playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.

“To see the stadium packed tonight was awesome,” Lawrence said. “One of the best game environments I’ve been in, honestly. It was special. They were loud all game. It was really, really cool. It was a cool experience. I’ll always remember that, so hopefully we do the same thing next week. We’re going to need it. It will be fun. Thank you, all.”

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson also took his hat off to the Duval crowd and told reporters that he’s hopeful there will be a similar environment during their upcoming playoff game.

“It was electric,” Pederson said. “It was what we were hoping for, and the crowd delivered. It was loud. They stayed until the end. I’m very proud of our fans. We’re going to need them again in a week or so. Just a great way to cap off the regular season. As we head into the postseason, we’re going to need them again, so let’s gear up and get ready.”

Playoff tickets for the Jaguars went on sale in December and were quickly scooped up by excited season ticket holders. Few seats are still available and standing room only tickets are also on sale.

The Jaguars will find out the day and time of the game as well as their Wild Card Round opponent on Sunday.

Jaguars hire design firm for TIAA Bank Field renovation proposals

The Jaguars are one step closer to a major renovation of TIAA Bank Field.

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired architecture firm HOK to serve as a design consultant for a proposed renovation of TIAA Bank Field, team president Mark Lamping told VenuesNow last week.

“This is not a project yet,” Lamping told VenuesNow. “We wanted to be in a place where we knew what the renovated stadium could look like and how do you renovate while still trying to play NFL games. We’re in a good spot. If we do go forward, we will essentially end up with a new stadium built on the existing structure.”

In October, Lamping told the Florida Times-Union that the Jaguars were in the preliminary stages of designing renovations at the team’s stadium. According to VenuesNow, HOK won the job over seven competitors that all submitted preliminary concepts for the work.

The Jaguars have played at TIAA Bank Field since their first season in the NFL in 1995. In the nearly three decades since it opened, the stadium has undergone a few renovations including the construction of 362-foot scoreboards and swimming pools.

At the top of the list of priorities this time is the construction of a shade roof.

“One of the things that we found that we have confidence in is just how comfortable a stadium can be that has a full roof, if you’re sensitive to air flow,” Lamping said. “We don’t need a climate-controlled building in Jacksonville any more than they need one in LA, but we do need shade on all the seats and protection from the rain if we hope to increase the amount of non-NFL business that we can give back to the stadium.”

Among previous NFL work for HOK was Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, and the recent renovation to add a roof canopy at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.