Goodell met with Mayor Deegan and city council president, Ron Salem, separately to ensure both are on board with getting a new stadium deal done.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Before watching the Jaguars Bengals Monday night clash in Jacksonville.
NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, separately met with Mayor Donna Deegan and City Council President, Ron Salem, to discuss the Jaguars potential stadium renovation.
The stadium could cost taxpayers $1 billion.
“I think he wanted to make sure there was a commitment from both The Mayor, who he met with before me, and myself that we want the Jaguars here I think he wanted to hear that directly,” Salem said.
“I made sure he understood the city council’s role in this process. I’ve asked my colleagues and I to kind of back away from the negotiations I don’t think that’s our role.”
The mayor’s office says Mayor Deegan’s meeting also went well with Goodell.
But the two did not discuss negotiations.
A spokesperson for Mayor Deegan said she’d like to get a deal done as soon as possible.
But, believes they are months away from the city and Jaguars getting a deal done.
As, for Salem he has a date circled on his calendar.
“I will not be the president June 30th of 2024 and I expressed to the commissioner and Mr. [Mark] Lamping and Mr. [Shad] Khan that I need, the council needs 60 days to really do this process justice,” Salem said.
A process that would be typical for any city bill.
Six weeks for council to look at it, which includes public hearings.
Right now, the mayor’s office is making sure the stadium is safe to renovate and doesn’t have to be demolished and rebuilt, which, it doesn’t anticipate happening.
When the city was awarded the Jaguars in the early 90s the Gator Bowl was mostly demolished and rebuilt.
Next week the mayor’s office will look at a recent engineer analysis report it had done on the stadium and it plans to do another one soon.
Salem feels good about the current structure.
“I’m pretty comfortable that the stadium bones are good for 30 years.”
The mayor’s office also told me it would like to start construction in 2026 and for the Jaguars to start playing in the stadium by 2028.
