Jaguars: Stadium needs millions

[Coolyfett]

Am I the only one that thinks a 15 year product life is patently ridiculously?  Aesthetically, the stadium is fine.  If the plumbing and other internal systems didn't last but 15 years, someone needs to be sued. 

As someone who's in the plumbing/mechanical industry, 15 years is about right considering the use.

Ive done plumbing work as well, you should see some systems that don't replace or update the plumbing after 15 - 20 years. Its lots of work.

[ProjectMaximus]

Most MLS teams are now playing in soccer only venues. There are news one in LA, Chicago, Toronto and soon to be in NJ.

Would a proper pitch even fit in Jax Municipal?  Because of the curvature of the stands, the playing surface narrows in width at the end zones, and there's not much length beyond the end lines, either.  It would be a tight fit, if it fit at all.

It would fit, easily. A football field is 53 1/3 yards wide (160 ft). FIFA regulations, which MLS follows, requires a minimum width of 45 metres (about 49 yards). So a football field as is would do (the length falls within FIFA's regulations as well).

The real issue would be the quick demise of the Jacksonville Cyclones back in the 90s. And the fact that if MLS expands to Florida, it would be in Miami, where the La Liga giants, Barcelona FC, are sponsoring an MLS bid.

Hmm...that's what I get for not checking official sources for the dimensions.  I was seeing an average size of 70x120 yds.  I guess maybe the sources I found included bench area and end to end measurements instead of the regulation playing surface?  Thanks!

Actually, you're absolutely right. Typical fields are around 110-120 in length and around 70-75 wide. I was just saying that to meet minimum regulation size you only need to go 50 yards wide and we'd obviously meet that requirement. It's like baseball...the team can be built to suit its unique field for a good home field advantage.

[MattnJax]

Am I the only one that thinks a 15 year product life is patently ridiculously?  Aesthetically, the stadium is fine.  If the plumbing and other internal systems didn't last but 15 years, someone needs to be sued. 

As someone who's in the plumbing/mechanical industry, 15 years is about right considering the use.

The entire system?  Repairs and maintenance I can see.  The majority of the time no one or very few people are even in the stadium. 

It's not so much of the intermittent use as it is the product life span and the strain on that system at times. And everything there is on a large scale, which means big bucks.

[Lunican]

A letter just sent by John Peyton:

Dear Friends,

There have been a number of press reports in recent weeks regarding potential expenditures for Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.  I wanted to take a few minutes today to clarify that issue and also to provide you the details associated with legislation that has been introduced to the Jacksonville City Council proposing an amendment to the city’s contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

First though, I wanted to take a minute to talk about what having the Jaguars in Jacksonville means for our city.  Jacksonville is a changed city since the arrival of the Jaguars.  Regardless of the results of a particular season, the team is a source of pride for citizens and a rally point for all of us.  The NFL’s selection of Jacksonville as its 32nd franchise city is a selling point that we use in pitching to economic development prospects. We receive national and international exposure almost daily and the “beauty shots” of Jacksonville during our televised games have more advertising value than we could ever afford to purchase.

In addition, the team’s owners, Wayne and Delores Weaver, have become an integral part of Jacksonville’s business, civic and philanthropic community.  Between the Jaguars Foundation, the Weaver Family Foundation, the Jaguars partners, team members and current and former coaches, organizations across Jacksonville have received tens of millions of dollars because of their generosity â€" investments that would be lost without the Jaguars.  Here are some significant data points:

·       The economic impact of the Jaguars is in excess of $130 million per year.

·       On game day, approximately 2,000 part-time or contract employees work providing services that include concessions, parking, ticket-taking, security, customer service and custodial operations.

·       According to NFL officials, Super Bowl XXXIX created a $300 million economic impact in Jacksonville.

These are real jobs and real dollars that would be lost if the Jaguars were not part of our community.

Stadium Maintenance

As to the maintenance issues related to the stadium, unfortunately, recent reporting by the Florida Times-Union did not sufficiently describe the contents of a nearly two-year-old report regarding investments needed at the stadium. Based on that coverage you may have thought that the Jaguars are, right now, seeking $148 million in stadium upgrades, renovations and improvements. That is not accurate.

In February 2007, the Jaguars commissioned a capital life-cycle study of the stadium.  The report was done by HOK Sport, the firm that provided engineering services on the stadium renovation prior to the 1995 inaugural season.  The report’s findings span more than 20 years â€" meaning that the capital needs identified reflect work that may be required during the next 20 to 30 years.  It also means that if implemented the costs associated with these items would be spread over that 20 to 30 year period.  These costs relate to stadium maintenance and operations, not capital improvements, renovations or upgrades. This list of items includes replacement of air handling equipment, seat refurbishment (due to wear and tear), parking lot repaving, etc.

The report findings have not yet been implemented and the Jaguars agree that the stadium is in good working order.  However, as with any facility that is nearly 15 years old, wear and tear does occur. As such maintenance issues must be addressed and investments will need to be made in the future to maintain the facility at a respectable standard.

Proposed Contract Amendment

The proposed amendment to the contract between the City of Jacksonville and the Jaguars (the ninth amendment to this contract) is intended to improve and clarify items in the lease related to potential sponsorships and revenue. While there is not currently a contract for a title sponsor on the stadium, when one is secured in the future, this amendment will help to ensure that the both the city and the team benefit financially. The legislation that has been introduced for the city council’s consideration does three things:

1.      It improves and clarifies the contract language as it related to a stadium naming rights sponsor. The original lease granted the Jaguars 100 percent of the advertising revenue from the stadium naming sponsor and split stadium naming rights revenue 50/50 between the City and the Jaguars.  Again, the City receives no revenue sharing for any separate agreements between the Jaguars and the naming rights sponsor related to advertising or related services.  This made the relationship difficult to administer and it appears that as a result, the City received significantly less than 25 percent of total revenue from the Jaguar’s contractual relationship with a naming sponsor.

      The proposed amendment guarantees the City 25 percent of all revenue associated with the naming rights and advertising from the stadium sponsor.  This new provision provides transparency into all stadium naming rights agreements and ensures the City the same value, if not more, from future stadium naming rights agreements.

2.      It provides ten club seats at Jaguars home games to the City for use as advertising inventory and resale to potential, separate naming rights sponsors of the sports complex, arena or baseball stadium.  These tickets may only be used as part of a naming rights agreement for other facilities within the sports complex â€" city officials will not have access to these tickets.

3.      It indentifies areas in the stadium available to the Jaguars for additional naming and advertising rights opportunities.  Those areas are the parking lots, the will call area, east and west touchdown clubs, seating sections, south end zone elevator towers, interior gates and stadium tower light stanchions.  The revenue associated with these rights will be used by the Jaguars to ensure continued financial viability.

The operation of the stadium and the continued viability of the Jacksonville Jaguars go hand-in-hand.  We want to maintain the stadium with the presence of our major tenant â€" the Jaguars.  Without them, the demand on the stadium drops dramatically, as does the value of the asset.

I know these are complex issues to outline in a message, however, I know these are things being discussed around dinner tables and water coolers throughout the city and I wanted you to know the facts.

Sincerely,

John Peyton

Mayor

[Jason]

That clears things up a bit.

[BridgeTroll]

Seems a bit more logical than a request for 148 mil of upgrades... Gotta love the T/U...

[BridgeTroll]

The Packers said they were not making any special preparations for the turf at Jacksonville Memorial Stadium.

Despite making all six of his kicks (three field goals, including a 54-yarder) against the Jaguars on Nov. 23, Minnesota Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell said Jacksonville’s field was the worst he had seen in a game that wasn’t affected by weather.

"It was a total sand pit," the former Packer said. None of the Packers was aware they might be playing on bad turf, including Stock.

"Everybody will probably take a couple of pairs of shoes down with them," Stock said. "We’ll change after warm-ups if we need to."

Anyone with any insight??

[copperfiend]

The turf at the stadium is usually rated among the best in the league. Surprising to hear that.

[alta]

I received the Mayor Peyton email also.  Disturbing  Let's put a freeze on stadium spending considering the current city budget. 

[MattnJax]

The Packers said they were not making any special preparations for the turf at Jacksonville Memorial Stadium.

Despite making all six of his kicks (three field goals, including a 54-yarder) against the Jaguars on Nov. 23, Minnesota Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell said Jacksonville’s field was the worst he had seen in a game that wasn’t affected by weather.

"It was a total sand pit," the former Packer said. None of the Packers was aware they might be playing on bad turf, including Stock.

"Everybody will probably take a couple of pairs of shoes down with them," Stock said. "We’ll change after warm-ups if we need to."

Anyone with any insight??

That is strange. I haven't been able to find any other recent news about the Jag's turf besides the article you quoted from.  Like copperfiend stated, usually we rank high in the league with our turf. I remember the turf for the Super Bowl, and it was immaculate. Maybe it's time for a resodding.

[MattnJax]

I received the Mayor Peyton email also.  Disturbing  Let's put a freeze on stadium spending considering the current city budget. 

I disagree. We can't afford to have one of our prized city possession fall apart and suffer neglect.

[reednavy]

Exactly, the damn thing is already "nameless", so to speak. That hurts is enough.