| The
AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars:
A partnership was formed on August 17th, 2004, led by Jacksonville
businessman Tom Petway, to bring a National Football League franchise to
Jacksonville Florida. The partnership became knows as Touchdown
Jacksonville!, LTD. It was a hard fought four year campaign, and on
November 30th, 1993 Jacksonville was awarded the 30th franchise of the
NFL. One of eleven teams vying for the available franchise, Jacksonville
was thought to be least likely to obtain the team. The eleven applicants
were cut to seven on March 17th, 1992, and Jacksonville was still in the
running. Two months later there were more cuts and the field was
narrowed to five, Baltimore, Charlotte, Memphis, St. Louis, and
Jacksonville. In October of 1992 proceedings were delayed until the fall
of 1993 and in March of 1993 the expansion proceedings continued. A tour
was scheduled with the NFL officials of Gator Bowl where it was
determined that additional renovations were needed to bring the stadium
to the NFL’s standards. After a financial solution to the renovation
problems could not be found, Touchdown Jacksonville!, LTD was left with
no choice but to pull out of the expansion race. However the
Jacksonville community and one of the partners of Touchdown
Jacksonville!, J. Wayne Weaver wouldn’t give up and in less than a month
a new plan for the stadium renovations was proposed for a $121 million
renovation cap with $53 million coming from city funding and $68 million
from team related sources. With financial issues settled, Jacksonville
was welcomed back into expansion running. The Jaguars have proven
themselves as a dominant NFL team and have had regular appearances in
the playoffs.
It took only 19.5 months for the old Gator Bowl to be torn down and the
new Alltel Stadium to be built. The stadium was quickly called the best
stadium in the country. The Jaguars became the first expansion team in
history to play their first home game in a brand new stadium on August
15th, 1995. A $46 million renovation was made for the 2003 season to
ensure that Alltel Stadium was the top facility in the nation. Alltel
Stadium seats 76,877, and with the additional temporary seating that can
be added behind the southern end zone, the capacity raises to over
82,000.
See more at the Jacksonville Jaguars Official Site
Click Here
Team Stadium
2004
Team Schedule |
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