Poll: Jacksonville residents buying into Jaguars stadium deal despite reservations

The NFL gets behind the new Jaguars' stadium. Image via Jacksonville Jaguars.

New polling from the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) shows conditional support for the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium proposal, albeit with caveats.

For starters (and most importantly for the purposes of Mayor Donna Deegan), a full 56% of 667 Duval County registered voters polled between May 21 and May 23 support the deal, against 43% disapproval. Most of those objections come from people who say they aren’t fans of the NFL team, with 60% of that subset against the deal.

The overall appetite for the deal among those surveyed is sweetened by the $150 million community benefits agreement, money to be programmed by the city in the next few years with an eventual match by the team. A full 88% of Jags fans and 71% of non fans support that condition.

Conversely, the city’s proposed $775 million stadium spend is the most unpalatable part of the deal’s framework, with just 41% support overall and 58% opposition. While 54% of those who say they are Jaguars fans back that part of the deal, just 21% of non-fans are supportive.

Though the Deegan administration and the team have manufactured a deal that has majority support in the poll, that may not translate to actual enthusiasm. Just 3% of those polled say the stadium and the team are the top priorities for the city, a number that ties that priority with parks and recreation. Even among fans of the franchise, only 4% say that’s the most important problem the city faces.

Additionally, 72% of voters would have liked to have had a say in a referendum, something policy makers have rejected. The referendum is a preferred option by at least 64% of every subgroup, with  78% of women and 79% of non-fans saying the people should have had a say.

The Mayor has said her election effectively was a referendum and that policy makers should make the decision.