They're deeming it "Stadium of the Future" I think it'll look great. I'm also looking forward to seeing some Jags games in an indoor stadium. Those 1 PM games in September are brutal. Here's the full video:
Would they need to park cruise ships downtown again? Heard it was a disaster last time and this issue probably still remains with a lack of hotels in proximity to the stadium. But who knows.
Details of new UF satellite campus in downtown Jacksonville slowly coming out weeks after announcement
As part of the project, it appears they are doing some form of retail and entertainment district, maybe something like the Battery at Truist Park in Atlanta, which is very nice. The problem is I don't think the concept will work there for a while. The Battery get traffic from about 80-90 Braves games a season (30-40K attendance), plus there's a secondary convention center almost adjacent and it's in a decent area with a lot of corporate business that people aren't afraid to go into. The Battery has good traffic all year long. Jax will be counting on traffic from 7 home games (8th is overseas) plus maybe a couple preseason games. They have a AAA baseball team that will have more games but they only get about 4-5K attendance. Minor league hockey and arena football maybe 5-7K. And they do have a few concerts between Dailys and Vystar Arena. But I'm not convinced it's going to be enough to support a retail/entertainment facility like this. Once they start building more condos and hotels and build up the waterfront, they might do better but I don't see people going to that area of town until it's built up. Until then, outside of the modest number of events, this place is more likely to be pretty sketchy like the Landing was. Jax and UF have been in negotiations for a while. I heard it mentioned yesterday that the fairgrounds property, very close to the stadium, may be where they put it.
Not a fan of indoor stadiums. If Green Bay can handle the great outdoors folks in FL should be able to as well. Can’t stand the heat: stay in the Fam room and watch it on the 70”
I believe they mentioned in the video the fairgrounds was the intended property. I agree the retail would be dependent upon residential presence....but I think they can get riverfront condos up and occupied about as fast as they can do the stadium and retail Also bear in mind you have Fl-Ga, Gator Bowl, likely a preseason college matchup every year, and it would become a prime concert destination for staium tour concerts.
Now the poodles can’t cry about the game being there because you better believe Jacksonville is going to line the pockets of the schools to continue the game there. The gap (which already exists) between the schools getting an extra home game and the huge payout is only going to increase. Too much money to be made for the powers that be at the schools to seriously consider ruining the rivalry by moving it on campus.
They can build but I'm not sure there's that much demand or people in Jax who can afford riverfront condos. The people here who can afford it are more than likely going to prefer to be at the beach. I have no doubt that riverfront condos are part of the area development plan, but my guess is that will be multi-decade process. I actually meant to mention UF/UGA and Gator Bowl. I'm sure they'd like to get a pre-season game as well, but are they really going to attract a major game that's going to sell more than 20K tickets? Maybe, but if NCAA adds more games, there's going to be a lot of competition. Nashville will be opening a fancy new stadium around the same time. And Jax is at a major disadvantage as there are very few direct flights to and from Jax. As far as stadium concerts, Florida in general is a hard sell. The big shows typically bypass Florida. They did have one stadium show last year in Jax. But even in Atlanta with Mercedes Benz Stadium, they only have 2 acts coming in this year. I'm sure Jax will have 1 or 2 stadium shows, but the impact will be limited.
You may be right, but I think those in their 20s and 30s would eat up those condos if there was retail/nightlife in walking distance. Thats what drives a lot of stuff in Central Fl now. Obviously the price point would alsofactor into the equation. I think Jax would easily draw a great preseason game with a stadium like that....and draw huge crowds. FSU and LSU will play to a full house in the Camping World dump. Agree there wouldn't be a ton of concerts, but I think any significant tour would chose that stadium option over any Florida venue.....get a Taylor Swift show, couple of other comparable and that moves the needle.
It looks great. It costs kind of off-the charts for Jax. If the city ponies up more than $400M to it, they are getting robbed big time.
I like outdoors and grass for sure for football but that Bama game a couple years ago was rough. If not for being such a great game, I would never go to a day game in the first part of the year. I only got Tennessee tix once they announced it as a night game.
One nice thing about this type of roof is that they claim they can grow natural grass. At least they claim they can. The Jags claim their goal is to have natural turf.
