Ken I agree with a lot of points you made. If it is easier get my point across by comparing every NFL stadium deal, there are only 32 and that isn't hard to do. I can get into it more this weekend. In general, teams need new land to build a new stadium. The downtime they incur from the projects (planning & build), often makes these strategies completely non-starters without it. Where would they have gone anyway?
The fact the Jaguars didn't attempt to go for a new build, makes complete business sense. In fact, are there any new stadiums built exactly where the old one was? I can't think of a recent example. The Jags stadium is legitimately one of a very small group to be built basically where the old one was (we know why). Because the Jags/taxpayer had already sunk a considerable cost to their nearby developments, that indicates that anything new was completely out of the question (due to timeline, cost & complications mainly).
Hence why the more well known stadiums in the league, get renovations rather than entirely new buildings. Obviously there is a historical element there, but just like Lake mentions, it's almost always cheaper to reuse/renovate. The thing is, those renovations are often much much less expensive than what we are discussing here. I don't see this as a meaningful argument that the Jaguars are being reasonable or something like that.
This is one of, if not, the largest NFL stadium renovation ever funded. They are covering their P/L. And while it may seem most stadiums are new, the fact remains that more than 20 stadiums in the NFL are more than 20 years old. Yes they have been renovated, but none of them near the cost the Jags have proposed (other than Cleveland who is still completely unsure with what they are doing). Renovations are still the main route teams go to upgrade their facilities.
Again, back to the CBA. If there was an actual split of public (state & local) funding, then there would be much less cause to pushback on the community giving. The fact of the matter is, there are thousands of families that live in consolidated areas, that still lack basic city services. We are quite literally telling the folks in the greater Eastside, they matter more for the wrongs of the past than other taxpayers. If I lived on the Northside or Westside without safe & reliable water/sewer, I'd be pretty upset. Thing is, will those people ever really know what happened? Probably not, and not because some of them don't care to know...
I post on here about the Septic Phase Out Program, but of course nobody cares... City Council members, everyday citizens alike. Stadium deals get people fired up, for all the wrong reasons. The Jaguars are a privilege to the city. It requires smart fiscal planning & a community that supports them for it to make sense. When it starts to become a big red flag, is when we start to justify putting off or delaying programs to pay for other shiny things. (Like a CBA in an area that already has water/sewer & community interest.) There's no way there isn't a cost to the taxpayer. Money just doesn't work like that.
Just do the deal, say we are willing to make the Jags happy, and leave it there. Again, zero state funds, and this is somehow a good deal to the average duval taxpayer? That doesn't align.
ADDED:
https://www.duanemorris.com/articles/revolution_nfl_stadiums_analysis_deal_structure_related_rewards_0923.htmlHere is a breakdown of all the "real" stadium deals right now, in which we are certainly very unique in our funding, and scope.