There Are Bad Deals – And Then There Is This Deal

Last week, I wrote about the Cleveland Browns starting construction on a new stadium in suburban Cleveland where the taxpayers are kicking in significant cash.  There is ongoing construction in the Buffalo area on a new stadium, and the Chiefs find themselves in the center of a bidding war to see which end of KC might house their new playpen.  Who knows when/if the Bears and the States of Illinois and Indiana will engage in a bidding war for the team locale?  I am always opposed to the idea of tax money being used for such purposes; and at the same time, I recognize that if merely one jurisdiction chooses to try to bribe a franchise to locate within its boundaries, then all of them need to be prepared to do the same to keep existing franchises in place.

I mention those situations because they almost look good compared to what is ongoing in Jax.  The existing stadium there – – EverBank Stadium – – will undergo renovation/upgrading to the tune of at least $1.4B before the inevitable overruns trickle in.  That is a lot of money poured into a 30+ year old field that only cost $120M to build in the first place.  Yes, today’s dollars are inflated as compared to the times when Jax built the field, but not to the tune of anything near $1.4B.

And this deal has holes in it despite any of the numbers or any of the purported upgrades that will come as a result of such lavish spending:

• The Jags are contractually bound to play at least one of their home games a year in Europe.
• Ergo, the field in Jax will be used one fewer time for every season where that commitment by the Jags’ team is still in effect.

I never believe in the peaches-and-cream projections by developers and planners for the massive economic benefits that stadiums bring to locales.  And in the case of Jax in 2026, any such projections need to be scaled back a bit simply because it will not be used nearly as often as it could be.  Work is underway on the upgrades and that construction work will render some of the seating in the stadium useless for this year.  In 2026, the Jags maximum attendance for a home game will be 42,500 fans.  Yes, that is only for one season, but still it represents about a 30% reduction in game-day revenue which is shared with the Jags’ opponents.  That cannot be fondly viewed upon by other teams …

But wait; there’s more …  In 2027, the Jags will surrender the entirety of their home field to the construction workers, and the Jags will play their home games in Orlando, FL.  The good folks in Orlando might conclude that they got a windfall here, except:

• The stadium in Orlando – – what used to be the Citrus Bowl – – will get a $400M facelift and the seating there will be increased from 60,000 to 65,000 in time for the Jags’ 2027 home schedule.
• Camping World Stadium – – the current name for the Citrus Bowl – – is the venue for several college bowl games each year and the annual HBCU rivalry game between Florida A&M and Bethune Cookman.

So, Orlando residents will spend $400M to increase the size and the look of a field that is used for maybe a half-dozen games a year.  The seating increase is less than 10% so unless the games there in the future sell out, there will be little or no increased game-day revenue for the stadium directors to count.

Let’s tally all this up:

• The folks in Jax will spend $1.4B and more and not get a full home Jags’ schedule for a while.
• The team and fans will be inconvenienced in the 2026 season by ongoing construction.
• The team will “leave town completely” for the 2027 season.
• The folks in Orlando will pony up about $400M to expand their seating by less than 10%.
• The Jags will be there for only one season – – assuming no construction disasters back in Jax – – and then Orlando will have to scrape to find ways to recoup that $400M.

Looking at that string of events, the public contributions to stadium construction in other cities in the league begin to look halfway reasonable.  It is not all that difficult to construct a positive narrative around other building projects:

• The Browns have been a fixture in Cleveland since the 1950s save for a short hiatus when the team decamped to relocate in Baltimore.
• The Bills are an original AFL franchise with a rabid fanbase.
• The Chiefs are an original AFL franchise with an equally rabid fanbase.

None of those sorts of “stories” apply to the Jags and/or their fans.  Remember, there were times when the team had to cover up seats in the upper deck so as to hide the meager attendance from TV audiences.  The Jags do not have any historical significance in the league as compared to the Browns, Bills or Chiefs – – and maybe the Bears are next?  The Jags only came into existence in 1995,

Finally, Phyllis Diller had it right:

“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………