In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette wrote the Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville agreeing to share the costs for $63M worth of scoreboard enhancements at EverBank Field "might seem outlandish, but it's also a vast improvement on many fronts.” It is “obvious there's a better relationship between the parties" since Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan and President Mark Lamping came aboard. But the “most important change is the mind-set of city leaders and team executives to be more proactive in generating revenue.” Jacksonville often “took the wait-and-see approach on facilities.” But that strategy “doesn't work in an NFL age where teams are more proactive in spending money to generate revenue” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 6/22).
SAFETY FIRST: In Daytona Beach, Dinah Voyles-Pulver reported a “project to reinforce crossover gates” in Daytona Int'l Speedway’s track safety fencing that “failed to stop crash debris from injuring fans in a February race" started last week. DIS Media Relations Senior Manager Andrew Booth on Friday said that the work “will be completed prior to the Coke Zero 400 weekend July 5-6.” The reinforcements were “prompted by a last lap crash in the DRIVE4COPD Nationwide Series race on Feb. 23 that destroyed a car driven by rookie Kyle Larson” and injured 28 fans (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 6/22).
HERE TO STAY: In DC, Dan Steinberg noted Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder’s private equity firm “sold Johnny Rockets earlier this month,” but the chain “absolutely” will continue to be represented inside FedExField. Johnny Rockets President & CEO John Fuller said that the chain “continues to have a contract with Centerplate,” which handles FedExField concessions. Fuller added Snyder and his business partners “are still huge fans of the brand, so that is not going to change at all despite them selling the company for business reasons” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 6/21).
LET'S HAVE A CHAT: In Raleigh, Chip Alexander reported Hurricanes President & GM Jim Rutherford and N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson “met Friday to discuss scheduling issues at PNC Arena.” Rutherford said, "It was a good meeting and we'll continue to communicate and work on it." He added that a “second meeting would be held within the next month” (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 6/22).
