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As the Jacksonville Jaguars work on a plan to renovate their stadium, a surprising possible temporary home for the team has emerged: Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona International Speedway president Frank Kelleher said in a statement Saturday to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that raceway officials plan to meet with the Jaguars soon about playing games at the venue, which is home of “The Great American Race.”
“Daytona International Speedway is a world-renowned sports and entertainment venue and hosts a full schedule of events each year,” Kelleher said. “As good neighbors in the Florida sports community, DIS will be speaking with the Jacksonville Jaguars to see if we can assist them with their potential upcoming facility needs around our scheduled events.”
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Why would the Jaguars play at Daytona International Speedway?
The city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars are working on renovating TIAA Bank Field, and the team unveiled conceptual designs for an improved stadium Wednesday.
The renovation would include a base capacity of 62,000, with expansion capabilities up to 71,500 for a college football game and more for a concerts. There would also be biking and walking trails, parklands, beaches, marshes and more.
While nothing is set in place, as renovations would need approval from the NFL and 75% of the league’s owners, if plans move forward, it would put the Jaguars out of a home stadium for two seasons.
Could the Jaguars play at Daytona International Speedway?
Jaguars team president Mark Lamping told VenuesNow.com it would be an “interesting solution” for Jacksonville to play at Daytona, but it would require significant investments.
“It can accommodate a big crowd. It would be a little wonky, but it’s worth considering. After the (2016) renovations, it’s nice,” Lamping said.
It would be quite the drive for the Jaguars to play at Daytona, which is around 85 miles southeast of the team’s stadium. It would also be quite the jump in capacity for games; the Jaguars current capacity is 67,000, while Daytona International Speedway has a capacity of 101,500, which extends much farther than a 100-yard football field.
Lamping has previously said the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium or Orlando’s Camping World Stadium are the most likely stadiums to be selected as temporary homes.
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Football at NASCAR venues
As wild as it may seem, football has been played at NASCAR venues before, including NFL games.
High school games were played at Daytona International Speedway in 1959, and FCS-school Bethune-Cookman has played four contests at the speedway, most notably a 6-0 win over Florida A&M in 1974.
In 2017, Tennessee and Virginia Tech played in the “Battle at Bristol” at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. The Volunteers won the game 45-24 in front a college football record-crowd of 156,990. Bristol Motor Speedway first hosted a football game in 1961 with an NFL exhibition game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, drawing 8,500 fans.
Contributing: Ryan Pritt and Ken Willis, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
