Jaguars’ stadium, sports district could cost City of Jacksonville more than $1B

[simms3]

I mean it's absolutely insane as always but after realizing that COJ can't even fix a park in under 4 years and Khan has already poured slabs for a Four Seasons in the current middle of nowhere, at this point I'm just like give the man his money because he's the only one apparently able to actually do something.

[thelakelander]

Lol

[CityLife]

Respect to Deegan and Salem for recognizing the need to bring in some outside talent to help with the negotiations. That is a fantastic idea and could have made Lot J go more smoothly. Beating a dead horse, but at the same time it's ridiculous to hire Huyghue. I get the need to hire someone quickly, but they could have gone to every major law firm in the state or country and found extremely competent and skilled negotiators that are unbiased. Hughue's rate of $325 an hour is very low for this level of practice, so I'm sure that is appealing, but this isn't a time to be cheap.

Also, Huyghue got swept up in the Nevin Shapiro fiasco back in 2011 and his career seems to have stalled a bit since then. IF the Shapiro story is true, who is to say he can't be compromised by a wealthy man with a lot to gain from the deal.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/6866006/ponzi-schemer-nevin-shapiro-says-provided-benefits-miami-athletes

Yahoo! Sports reported that players got cash and benefits through Shapiro's partner, former NFL agent and current UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue.

Reached Tuesday by The Associated Press, Huyghue denied that story.

"It's just fantasy," Huyghue said. "He never had any role in my company."

Huyghue said he signed three Miami players in seven years. He said Shapiro was not a runner and he did not represent any players, but did invest $1.5 million in his agency in 2001 and that the two spoke only occasionally.

"He didn't have the acumen to represent players," Huyghue said.

Meanwhile, at least one player named by Shapiro said he did try to steer them toward agents.

"I know of (Shapiro)," said Hester, now with the Chicago Bears. "At the time I was going into the draft, he was like a runner for an agent. I had declared into the draft. He was one of the runners for one agent."

[jaxoNOLE]

Hey, Jacksonville, that’s also known as a conflict of interest. How can Huyghue be expected to zealously represent the rights of the taxpayers of Jacksonville if he has a separate consulting relationship “with all 32 NFL teams and the commissioner”? The league’s interests and the Jaguars interest when it comes to squeezing maximum public money for a renovated stadium are fully aligned. And now the City Council has now agreed to pay the proverbial fox a whopping $325 per hour to build a bigger henhouse.

More amazingly, Huyghue was approved by a unanimous vote. Which means that the Jacksonville City Council is either entirely oblivious or entirely unconcerned about the very clear disconnect between what the Jaguars/NFL want and what Jacksonville is willing/able to give.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/jacksonville-city-council-hires-former-jaguars-executive-michael-huyghue-as-stadium-consultant

[marcuscnelson]

My assumption has been that Huyghue isn't actually doing the negotiation, just keeping Council separately updated on their progress and explaining whatever they don't understand. I would think whoever the Mayor hires would be the actual negotiator on behalf of the city. That could be a million-dollar contract, and probably should be, seeing as they'd be determining whether and how the city is going to spend a billion dollars.

[jaxoNOLE]

My assumption has been that Huyghue isn't actually doing the negotiation, just keeping Council separately updated on their progress and explaining whatever they don't understand. I would think whoever the Mayor hires would be the actual negotiator on behalf of the city. That could be a million-dollar contract, and probably should be, seeing as they'd be determining whether and how the city is going to spend a billion dollars.

Would any of this explaining to City Council possibly happen on a yacht, or in box seats come September? 

I jest -- kind of. I'm sure you're correct that Deegan's consultant will be the true negotiator, but Council has an important role to play, and the appearance of conflict does nothing to make a skeptical public think better of the process. I'll admit this one thing on its own probably wouldn't be all that concerning, but given our track record -- I think the question of "entirely oblivious or entirely unconcerned" is a fair one to ask.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ I am happy to "re-explain" to the City Council any subject that the City has paid up to $2 million for someone to consult on for the compensation offered here  . 

My question is what is the need and motivation for the Council to do this if they aren't trying to undermine or negotiate on their own for this deal?  Keep in mind the Council has to approve the deal so why would they not just have Deegan's team present to them.  They can then express any concerns or questions at that time or earlier, since Deegan is likely to include reps of the Council in the inner circle of negotiations or at least run some major tenets by them to insure the Council is on board with a final deal.

I think there is a chance that Deegan negotiates a deal and the super partisan members of the Council pick it apart just to give her a hard time.  Kind of like what they did during the election to LeAnna Cumber or with the judge in the redistricting case.

[Steve]

Yea I mean in fairness to this whole thing, this will be negotiated by the Mayor’s office. Not by City Council.

[jaxoNOLE]

Sure, it just begs the question:

Is this advisor in an important, consequential role? If so, we should seek someone who would unequivocally prioritize the City's interests. If not...what's the point?

City Council was ready to buy Lot J hook, line, and sinker on Curry and Khan's word until public pressure barely forced its defeat. Now they need their own consultant before Deegan has even selected a negotiator.

I don't mean to imply this is some massive conspiracy, I'm just really struggling to identify the objective value-add of this move.

[Ken_FSU]

Sure, it just begs the question:

Is this advisor in an important, consequential role? If so, we should seek someone who would unequivocally prioritize the City's interests. If not...what's the point?

City Council was ready to buy Lot J hook, line, and sinker on Curry and Khan's word until public pressure barely forced its defeat. Now they need their own consultant before Deegan has even selected a negotiator.

I don't mean to imply this is some massive conspiracy, I'm just really struggling to identify the objective value-add of this move.

This is exactly why this hire IS so important.

City Council is ultimately the one who will have to vote yes or no on the stadium deal, and to your point, Lot J would have passed nearly unanimously had the public not become so vocal against it.

Yes, Donna will have her own negotiator, but this City Council liaison is ultimately going to be the person coloring City Council's perception of a complex multi-faceted $1 billion mixed use deal. And said liaison isn't a neutral party. They are a former executive for the business on the other end of the negotiating table, and someone with a vested interest in staying on the good side of the NFL.

If the end goal is to get the best deal possible for the City of Jacksonville, a hire like this is not just unnecessary, but also potentially dangerous.

18-0.

Wild.

[thelakelander]

City Council hires consultant as stadium talks near

The City Council will hire a consultant as stadium talks near.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/city-council-hires-consultant-as-stadium-talks-near/

[marcuscnelson]

The Deegan Administration has hired Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin to represent the City of Jacksonville in its stadium deal negotiations with the Jaguars, which are set to begin by the end of the month.

https://twitter.com/NateMonroeTU/status/1691494742771609606?s=20

[thelakelander]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2023/aug/15/city-chooses-sidley-austin-for-stadium-of-the-future-negotiations/

[jaxlongtimer]

This attorney makes some excellent points about why the community should pause on giving big bucks to Khan for the stadium project.  Whether pro or con (no pun intended  ), the community should take into account his 6 considerations in deciding how to proceed.

Local attorney: Jaguars' stadium project a leadership moment for mayor, City Council

With all the discussions surrounding the “Stadium of the Future” announced by the Jacksonville Jaguars, here are six things Duval County citizens should know about the proposed project.

One, building a new stadium will have little economic impact on our city, no matter how much we love the Jaguars. Dozens of economic studies have confirmed that stadiums (and, for that matter, the presence of an NFL team) do not have any meaningful impact on jobs, economic activity, business relocations to the host city, property values or household income. Likewise, cities like San Diego and St. Louis losing NFL teams suffer little economic effect per those same studies.

Two, city funding for the stadium is an enormous wealth transfer to owner Shad Khan, as NFL teams are valued at 30 to 45 times EBITDA cash flow (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A leaked investment proposal for the Washington Commanders suggests that a new stadium and a sportsbook — a company that accepts bets on sporting events — could add up to $80 million to $100 million to the Jaguars’ annual cash flow. 

Even at $50 million, the new stadium would increase the net worth of the team by $1.5 billion. That helps explain why the Chicago Bears are building a stadium at their own expense and suggests that Khan would still benefit even if he fully funded the new stadium.

Three, taxes raised to generate city funding for a new stadium have real economic consequences for the community. Any tax other than a ticket surcharge or in-stadium sales tax violates the benefit principle of taxation, meaning that the people paying the tax aren’t the people benefiting from the stadium. Moreover, any tax reduces the disposable income of those paying the tax, reducing economic activity in the city.

Four, city funding for the stadium carries a significant opportunity cost. Jacksonville is burdened with pension debt and unfulfilled promises and seems unable to be able to even build a park or to open public pools in the dead of summer. We must rethink our priorities and make economically sound decisions if we want to be a great city.

Five, taxpayer-funded subsidies for billionaires are unjust and anti-capitalist, as libertarians and progressives generally agree. There are good reasons why our Florida and federal governments have moved away from subsidizing sports stadiums.

Six, politicians routinely ignore the economic data and succumb to the fancy renderings, exaggerated promotional studies and relocation threats by the NFL team (see Buffalo and Nashville).

This is a leadership moment for Mayor Donna Deegan and the City Council. I urge residents to share with them their views.

Daniel B. Nunn, Jr., is a Jacksonville-based attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2023/09/03/khan-may-still-benefit-even-if-he-funds-jaguars-new-stadium-entirely/70707244007/

[thelakelander]

What about the development side of things? This editorial does not address that part. To me, that's something that this city should dig into for details as putting all that dead property back on the tax rolls and the job creation could be significant. While the stadium is the flashy thing, developing all those underutilized parking lots in the Sports District is that thing that really catches my eye as a taxpayer.