Today we visit the city of Jacksonville and their incredible TIAA Bank Field!

History:

TIAA Bank Field is an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida, that primarily serves as the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium opened in 1995 as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on the site of the old Gator Bowl Stadium (erected 1927), and included some portions of the older stadium. Located on the St. Johns River, it sits on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land in downtown Jacksonville.In addition to hosting the Jaguars, the stadium is also regularly used for college football, concerts, and other events. It is the regular site of the annual Florida–Georgia game, a college football rivalry game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia. The stadium is also the home of the annual Gator Bowl, a post-season college bowl game. Additionally, the stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 and is one of the venues used by the United States men's national soccer team. From 1997 to 2006, the stadium was named Alltel Stadium after communications company Alltel purchased naming rights. The facility was renamed EverBank Field in 2010, following the approval of a five-year, naming rights deal with the financial services company EverBank. The agreement was extended in 2014 for an additional 10 years. The Jaguars announced in February 2018 the stadium would be renamed TIAA Bank Field for the 2018 NFL season after EverBank was acquired by New York-based TIAA.

TIAA Bank Field is located in the Stadium District of downtown Jacksonville, which has been home to football fields since the early 20th century. In 1928 the first permanent football stadium, Fairfield Stadium, was constructed. In 1948 this was expanded and renamed Gator Bowl Stadium, in honor of the annual Gator Bowl game first played two years earlier. The current structure was built using a few portions of the historic Gator Bowl Stadium. However, all of the elements included from the older stadium — the pedestrian ramp system and the more recent West Upper Deck section of the complex — dated back only to 1982. Construction started January 3, 1994, and the new stadium opened on August 18, 1995, with an exhibition game with the St. Louis Rams. Total construction time was under 20 months and total cost was US$134 million – $60 million of which was provided by the city of Jacksonville.

In January 1993, representatives from the University of Florida and University of Georgia began negotiating with Jacksonville representatives to renew the contract to host the Florida–Georgia game, the annual rivalry game between the college football teams of the two universities. The universities' five-year contract with the Gator Bowl ended after the 1994 game, and the Citrus Bowl had offered Florida and Georgia a larger sum of money than the Gator Bowl for the right to host the game. To counter the Citrus Bowl's larger monetary offer, Jacksonville mayor Ed Austin proposed a $25.5 million renovation plan to Jacksonville's aging Gator Bowl Stadium, which had been built in 1949. Both teams had expressed concerns about the condition of the aging stadium, and renovations were considered key to enticing the teams to keep returning to Jacksonville, bringing tens of millions of dollars in consumer spending with them. Despite the promise of renovations, Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley was unswayed, so Austin widened the scope of the renovations, increasing their price tag to $49 million, and traveled to Athens, Georgia, to talk with Dooley in person. Austin's campaigning was partially successful. On March 23, 1993, the two universities announced they had signed a five-year contract with the Gator Bowl, running from 1997 to 2002. The contract was contingent on Austin successfully passing the $49 million renovation bond issue through the Jacksonville City Council and the city completing the renovations by the 1996 game. On Tuesday, May 11, the Jacksonville City Council approved a $219.5 million bond issue, including the $49 million for the renovation of the Gator Bowl.

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