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When one thinks of Jacksonville and
football, their first thought may be the Gator Bowl, the annual
college football bowl game played in the city since 1946. However
since 1995 the Jacksonville Jaguars have been a part of the
professional football scene in the city. Decades before the Jaguars played
their first game in Jacksonville their were discussions of the
Baltimore Colts or the Houston Oilers moving to the city. Neither of these
teams moved and in 1989, Touchdown Jacksonville! was formed to
bring a NFL franchise to the city. Professional football in
Jacksonville became one step closer to reality in 1991 when the
NFL announced they would expand by two teams. Five cities were in contention for the two teams including Charlotte, St. Louis,
Baltimore, Memphis and Jacksonville. In order for the NFL to
consider the city for a team, a new stadium would need to be
constructed or the Gator Bowl would have to be renovated. In July
1993 negotiations with the city to reconstruct the Gator Bowl
failed and it appeared Jacksonville was out of contention for a
NFL franchise. However, interest in pursuing a team did not die and
the city eventually renegotiated, committing to spending $60 million
to reconstruct the Gator Bowl. On November 30, 1993 the NFL
awarded the city a franchise.
Construction for a new stadium on the site of the Gator Bowl began
on January 3, 1994 and was completed 19.5 months later by opening
day, 1995.
Originally named
Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the Jaguars
played their first game at the stadium on August 18, 1995. The
stadium consists of over 76,000 blue seats. Two, two tier
grandstands of seats are located on both sides of the playing
field. The lower deck circles the entire playing field. Two
60-by-156-foot video/scoreboards are located on both ends of the
stadium. In 1997, Alltel Communications purchased the naming
rights to the stadium, thus the stadium became known as Alltel
Stadium. In preparation for the Super Bowl in 2005, $47 million
was spent upgrading the stadium. Upgrades included the 25,000
square feet Bud Zone sports bar at the south end of the stadium
and a larger video board. In 2007, the stadium was renamed Jacksonville Municipal
Stadium. In July 2010, it was named EverBank Field after
Everbank purchased the naming rights for five years. The stadium has many amenities including 10,000 club
seats. Two Crown Royal Touchdown Clubs that provide more than 65,000 square
feet of air-conditioned comfort with a variety of food and
beverage selections. EverBank Field hosts many other events other
than Jaguars games, including the annual Gator Bowl and many concerts. Because
of low attendance in recent years, the Jaguars have tarped off
seven sections of seating in the upper deck. This reduces the
capacity by over 9,000 seats to just over 67,000.
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