The Jacksonville Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville agreed to a stadium renovation deal this week, which, if approved by the NFL, will call for a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium to be completed by 2028. The agreement will ensure the Jaguars remain in Jacksonville for another 30 years.
Once the Oakland Raiders left for Las Vegas, the next obvious candidate for a potential stadium showdown/relocation threat was Jacksonville. While Jacksonville’s stadium is technically only the seventh oldest stadium in the NFL (opened in 1995), some of the stadiums older than it are in no threat of being replaced anytime soon: Lambeau, the Superdome, and Hard Rock Stadium have all spent tons of money on recent renovations. And Buffalo now has a new stadium on the way to replace their aging facility in Orchard Park. Meanwhile, Chicago and Kansas City are actively searching for new homes, although there’s little threat that either team could leave their metro areas, regardless of how those situations play out (but I guess we once thought that about Cleveland).
Nevertheless, Jacksonville wasn’t such a sure thing. Their struggles with attendance and revenue have been well documented, and the team has been playing one home game per year in London since 2013. That strategy has been very successful, serving as the building block for the NFL’s continued international expansion. But whether they could pull off a new stadium deal in Jacksonville wasn’t clear, and there would have been no shortage of suitors lining up for an available NFL team.
But it looks like that won’t be necessary, and the team will have a new stadium in time for the 2028 season. The team would play at Everbank Stadium with a reduced capacity in 2026, and would then temporarily relocate to either Gainesville or Orlando for the 2027 season. That sort of temporary relocation is typical for projects like this, as the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks all played in college stadiums while their new buildings were being constructed.
So what does this mean for you? Well, if you want to see the “original” Everbank Stadium, you’ve got 2024 and 2025 to do so. 2026 … who knows what “reduced capacity” will mean and what the experience will be like. And then in 2027, you’ll have a chance to see an NFL team play in a non-NFL stadium, which is always interesting and unique.
But the great news is that the Jags are staying put, which is fantastic for their fans. To read up on the details of the deal and the new stadium, check out this article from CBS Sports: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jaguars-city-of-jacksonville-agree-on-1-4-billion-stadium-of-the-future/.
