JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Riding on the heels of their AFC South Division Championship win, the Jaguars are gearing up to play the Los Angeles Chargers in Jacksonville’s first ever, prime-time playoff game played in the City’s history.
And as Jacksonville revs up for Saturday’s game, Mayor Lenny Curry talked all things JAGS on WOKVs Jacksonville’s Morning News.
With the City now in the national spotlight for the second week in a row, Mayor Curry says that he believes that the TIAA Bank Field will be “rocking even more than last weekend.”
In order to prepare Jacksonville for the additional influx of people, the Mayoral office designated over 700,000 dollars in emergency funding - that was quickly approved by the City Council - to cover expenses such as traffic, security, facility maintenance, etc. Mayor Curry described the financing as an “absolute return on investment.”
“We’re going to be again, just as last weekend, on national television; the only NFL game on NBC with all eyes tuned in,” he said.
Mayor Curry described the City’s current multitude of visible cranes as good marketing and branding tools that highlight Jacksonville’s growth and development.
The Mayor also noted that if the Jaguar’s win, residents will feel “better” about the City’s investments including the City Council’s recent approval of raising the power lines over the Fulton Cut St. Johns River Crossing and the Four Seasons Hotel/office building to be built adjacent to the TIAA Field.
Mayor Curry described the team’s recent wins as special, especially last week’s game.
“The way we’ve been winning, offense has been on a roll and the defense shows up and makes a huge play at the end; its been magical so far.”
According to Mayor Curry, his office is working to finalize the next stadium contract to ensure that the next administration is “handed something that’s had great due diligence” to work with.
“I’m confident, " he said, “that the next Mayor will be fully supportive of this franchise and all that we need to do to have a successful partnership.”
In addition to encouraging all fans to wear teal and white on Friday, January 13, the colors that the Jaguars will be wearing on the field, the Mayor is predicting a big “offensive game” with the Jaguars winning 27 to 21.
The Mayor ended his interview with of course, a perfect, “DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUVAAAAAAAAAAL.”
Listen to the complete interview between Mayor Lenny Curry and WOKV’s Morning Show Anchor Rich Jones by clicking on the link below.
https://od-cmg.streamguys1.com/jacksonville-market/20230112115750-LvMayorLennyJASSaturdayFinal.mp3