New Jaguars scoreboard could come in 2013, likely in 2014

To go along with the new vision of the Jacksonville Jaguars going forward, the team hopes to be able to build a new state of the art scoreboard to go along with the new logo and new uniforms coming later. Currently, the Jaguars have the ninth smallest scoreboard in the NFL among open air stadiums. The goal, according to team president Mark Lamping, is to improve that ranking drastically.

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The goal is for the Jaguars to have the biggest scoreboard in the NFL. "Why not be the best," team president Mark Lamping asked during the team's press conference on Tuesday. The current scoreboards were built when the old Gator Bowl was remodeled for $121 million back in 1994, but the new proposed scoreboard would cost close to $50 million based on the current concept. The new proposed scoreboard ould be about 52 feet high and 348 feet wide, making it one of the largest in the NFL.

Currently the plan is expected to have the new scoreboard installed by 2014, but there will be roadblocks in the way. EverBank Field is a city owned stadium that is used by more than just the Jaguars, so the city of Jacksonville is going to be expected to foot most of, if not the entire bill for the new modern scoreboard. There have been indications however that organizations like the Gator Bowl and such will pitch in for the cost, since they would also benefit from having the scoreboard. There is also still the possibility that Khan and the Jaguars contribute to the bill as well.

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"We don’t own the building, it’s owned by the city," Lamping told reporters after the press conference. There’s other organizations that EverBank (Field) is very important to them: Florida-Georgia game, Gator Bowl. We think that whether it’s our games, other football games or other football events that come here."

One of the selling points to the city in the proposal is that a new modern scoreboard could help it land bigger and more recognizable events outside of the Jaguars and the annual Florida-Georgia game.

"For us to continue to attract those games, BCS Championship Game for example, you can’t to expect to attract an event like that when the video boards we have right now are much less impactful than most of those college teams compete with each and every week," Lamping continued. "When the Gators come in here and face the Bulldogs, their fans are seeing a video board that is not as impressive or as high quality of what they see week in and week out in Athens and Gainesville. So, we need to deal with those things."

This isn't to say the city should or should not foot the bill for the renovation (personally, I think something like this should be mostly footed by the team), but that it's going to be asked and will likely happen. Lamping seemed to indicate that if the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars can come to an agreement soon, it's possible the new video boards could be up for the 2013 season, which indicates to me that this process is already well along in the planning and negotiation stages. A bigger and better scoreboard does create new revenue streams for the city however, in the form of advertising and such in the stadium and during events.