Jaguars stadium renovation projected to exceed original price tag

The cost of renovating EverBank Stadium might end up being around $100 million higher than the original $1.4 billion estimate, a top city official said Dec. 2.

The city's agreement with Jaguars owner Shad Khan will put the cost of any overruns solely on the Jaguars to cover any added expense.

Mayor Donna Deegan's chief of staff Mike Weinstein said in an update to City Council members the budget fluctuates for the renovation of EverBank Stadium that the city and Khan are jointly financing.

"They review it practically every month, and things do change," Weinstein said. "Tariffs have an effect. Everything sort of has an effect. Right now, it's a little bit over budget. It may change, but we're very cautious to that."

Buffalo and Tennessee stadiums also have had cost overruns

Cost overruns have happened on other NFL stadiums under construction. The new stadium for the Buffalo Bills went from an estimated $1.54 billion up to $2.1 billion. The stadium for the Tennessee Titans increased from an initial $2.1 billion by another $100 million.

The agreements for those stadiums put the burden of cost increases on the teams, which is the same structure of the deal between the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars.

Weinstein used the figure of roughly $100 million to quantify the current projection for additional cost when he talked to reporters after his presentation to the Finance Committee.

The Jaguars are overseeing the Everbank Stadium overhaul and said in response to emailed questions that work is moving ahead at a pace for the stadium to be complete by the 2028 season.

"Between the age and condition of the stadium and our commitment to play home games in Jacksonville in 2025 and 2026, this was always going to be a very complex project," the team said. "We continue to make progress with both the construction and our commitment to support local emerging businesses."

Asked whether the cost will exceed $1.4 billion in the face of rising construction costs, the Jaguars said the work is "very early in the construction process and while we won't know the final cost until the project is complete, at this point in time, we do not expect the project to come in less than $1.4 billion."

The 2024 agreement between the city and the Jaguars was based on a $1.4 billion cost for the stadium makeover with the city committed to $775 million and the Jaguars paying the remaining $625 million.

Weinstein said by the time the dust settles on the work, it's possible the split between the city and Jaguars for the final cost will be closer to 50-50 since the Jaguars will be footing the bill for cost overruns.

He said that because the city is buying materials used for the stadium renovation and doesn't pay sales taxes for those purchases, the project is saving about $25 million through that arrangement.

Home playoff games won't affect stadium construction schedule

The work will kick into higher gear after the Jaguars seasons ends. When the 2026 arrives, the Jaguars will play home games at the stadium with reduced seating and in the 2027 season, full-bore construction will put the stadium entirely off-limits to football games.

The Jaguars currently sit atop their division with a big game coming up Dec. 7 against the Indianapolis Colts. One factor that won't complicate the schedule for stadium construction would be the Jaguars extending the team's season by making the playoffs and hosting home games.

"Believe it or not, we did talk about the possibility of home playoffs when we started this process," Weinstein said. "Some people weren't really giving any credit to that, but lo and behold, we may in fact have playoff games here."

Stadium makeove: Jacksonville Jaguars stadium getting a $1.4B renovation. Here's a look at what's coming

Ryan O'Halloran:: Jacksonville Jaguars rounding into good team. Titans blowout shows how

For the 2027 season, the Jaguars have chosen Orlando over Gainesville as a home-away-from home site, according to multiple reports. The team's agreement with the city also gives it the option of playing up to three home games in London in 2027, though whether the Jaguars play in London that year is up to the NFL owners.

"The Jaguars continue to work with the NFL to identify the team's home game location for the 2027 season," the team said in response to emailed questions. "Once the plan is finalized, it will be presented to NFL owners for a vote at a regularly scheduled owner's meeting."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville stadium makeover is over original $1.4 billion budget