Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping was asked a hypothetical question Thursday about the possibility of putting the decision to Duval County voters about who should fund $2 billion in renovations to the team’s stadium.
Although it’s unlikely voters will have a chance to weigh in on a ballot, Lamping said if that were to happen, the question would be straightforward.
“If there’s a referendum, the ballot question should be: Do you want to keep the NFL in Jacksonville?” Lamping said at the AXS DRIVE conference in St. Louis on Thursday, according to a report from Sports Business Journal. “Look, if Jacksonville loses an NFL team, they’re never going to get another one. And if the Jaguars have to relocate from Jacksonville, those of us that went down there would have failed. OK? And none of us want to face that.”
Lamping said that all sides in ongoing city negotiations want the project to happen, SBJ reported.
It’s the most straightforward Lamping has been about the fact that if a deal doesn’t get done, or the NFL doesn’t approve it, there is a strong possibility the Jaguars will leave town.
The Jaguars have proposed a 50-50 split between the city and the team to pay for the projects which would include a total renovation of the stadium and improvements to the surrounding area, which would put taxpayers on the hook for $1 billion.
But a UNF poll released earlier this week found that a majority of registered Duval County voters are opposed to spending public funds on stadium and sports district development, although many would be willing to compromise to keep the Jaguars in town.
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The Public Opinion Research Lab survey asked several questions about the public-private partnership between the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars to make renovations to the city-owned EverBank Stadium and develop the surrounding sports district.
Survey respondents were given a choice of outcomes, ranging from no public investment to spending $1 billion of public funds.
READ: Full results of UNF Poll
The researchers said that the results were not surprising: 51% chose the Jaguars to purchase the land and pay for stadium renovations and sports district development with no public investment.
Only 6% supported the $1 billion public investment currently being proposed by the Jaguars. And the remaining 33% were split between $250 million and $500 million of public funds being spent on the upgrades. The other 9% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
But when the question was framed as an ultimatum: spend the $1 billion or the Jaguars leave town, the results changed significantly.
When asked whether they would support the city spending $1 billion if it meant the difference between the Jaguars staying in Jacksonville or moving to another city, 46% said yes and 47% said no. Even among those who oppose spending any public funds on the project, 33% were willing to split the cost when faced with the possibility of losing the team to another city.
Lamping’s comments seemed to reference the results of the poll and will likely be a key issue as negotiations between the city and the team begin.
Right now the city and the Jaguars are trying to figure out the logistics of the deal. Mike Weinstein, who is on the city’s negotiating team, said there has been one two-hour meeting with the Jaguars’ negotiating team.
The Jaguars have said in the past they want to know the direction the negotiations are heading by the end of October.
The city and the Jaguars are working on setting up a second meeting.
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