DAY ONE PROPOSAL · SPORTS · TOURISM · JOBS

An NBA Team for Jacksonville

Important: The NBA Commissioner is Adam Silver. Jacksonville cannot create or acquire an NBA franchise unilaterally. Expansion, relocation and ownership require NBA approval; any municipal role would require detailed legal, financial, league, labor and public review. No public money should be committed before an independent feasibility study and transparent authorization.

Dear Commissioner Silver and the NBA

On my first day as mayor, I would request a formal introductory meeting with Commissioner Adam Silver and the appropriate NBA expansion and market-development staff. Jacksonville would arrive with questions, evidence and humility—not a demand that the league accept an unsupported promise.

Our case would be that Northeast Florida can become a distinctive basketball market built around families, military communities, youth development, tourism and year-round downtown activity. We would commission independent studies of demand, ownership structures, arena requirements, transportation, operating cost and the effect on existing venues and teams.

I support studying a people-centered ownership model. Direct city ownership may conflict with NBA rules, Florida law, financing limits or sound risk management, so the study must also examine a community trust, locally led private ownership, broad-based minority investment and enforceable community-benefit agreements. The goal is public value without hiding risk from taxpayers.

Jacksonville asks for the opportunity to demonstrate readiness. If the evidence supports the case, we will build responsibly. If the evidence does not, we will publish it and strengthen basketball through youth, college, G League, WNBA and major-event opportunities. Together, we win by respecting both ambition and facts.

A seven-phase execution plan

Phase 1 · Establish the evidence

Create a Council-reviewed feasibility scope; hire independent market, legal, finance, venue and transportation specialists through competitive procurement; publish assumptions; survey season-ticket and corporate demand without representing interest as a binding sale; and establish clear stop/go standards.

Phase 2 · Open league and ownership conversations

Send the Dear NBA letter, request meetings with league leadership, learn the NBA’s actual expansion criteria, identify qualified ownership groups, evaluate league-compliant community participation models, and document what Jacksonville must prove before advancing.

Phase 3 · Test the venue network

Compare renovation and new-construction scenarios; identify which uses belong in an NBA arena and which belong in the performing arts center; model calendars, loading, security, acoustics, parking, transit, hotels and neighborhood effects so one proposal does not undermine another.

Phase 4 · Build the athlete-performance pathway

Study a connected sports-performance and medicine campus with courts, strength and conditioning, rehabilitation, sports science, nutrition, mental-health support, coaching education and youth clinics. Access for visiting elite athletes must coexist with scheduled community and school programming.

Phase 5 · Protect public value

Publish capital and operating costs, land commitments, debt risk, maintenance obligations and opportunity costs. Any incentive or public participation must be tied to enforceable jobs, local purchasing, youth access, neighborhood protections and independent annual reporting.

Phase 6 · Grow toward readiness

Host NBA preseason, G League, WNBA, college, international and youth events where feasible; improve hotel capacity and visitor service through private investment; strengthen local basketball culture; and use verified attendance, visitor spending and sponsorship results to demonstrate demand.

Phase 7 · Submit only when Jacksonville is ready

Advance a formal bid only if the league signals an opportunity and independent evidence supports it. Present ownership, arena, financing, security, transportation, hotel and community-benefit plans as one documented package, with every required approval identified.

The 30-point Jacksonville case

  1. Jacksonville is a major Florida city with a large regional population
  2. Northeast Florida offers a distinct geographic market
  3. The city has deep professional-sports loyalty
  4. Jaguars support proves fans can build a durable identity
  5. AEW and major wrestling events demonstrate event demand
  6. Military families and veterans broaden the fan community
  7. Youth basketball can become a year-round development pipeline
  8. Regional colleges create partnership and ticket opportunities
  9. A downtown team can support restaurants and hospitality
  10. An NBA calendar fills dates across fall, winter and spring
  11. Basketball attracts domestic and international visitors
  12. A team can expand national media visibility
  13. Corporate partnerships can grow with the market
  14. Premium seating and sponsorship demand must be tested transparently
  15. Public transit planning can connect neighborhoods to events
  16. A practice facility can support camps and community programming
  17. Women’s and girls’ basketball partnerships can expand access
  18. Sports medicine and performance careers can grow locally
  19. Arena operations create hospitality and skilled-trade work
  20. Local vendors can compete through transparent procurement
  21. The team can complement—not displace—the Jaguars
  22. Cross-promotion can strengthen AEW and other arena events
  23. All-Star and international events can add tourism demand
  24. Jacksonville’s airport and interstate access support regional travel
  25. The riverfront can provide a distinctive visitor experience
  26. A community-benefits agreement can protect public value
  27. Independent feasibility work can test realistic demand
  28. Phased planning can prevent premature taxpayer commitments
  29. Public reporting can show costs, risks and projected returns
  30. Jacksonville offers the NBA an ambitious, community-centered partner

10 steps: how the performing arts and event district draws people together

  1. Complete independent market, site and operating studies
  2. Design flexible performance and event spaces around acoustics and access
  3. Connect the district to transit, hotels, restaurants and the riverfront
  4. Reserve affordable community dates and local-artist pathways
  5. Build promoter, touring, convention and sports partnerships
  6. Create hospitality packages linking performances with neighborhoods
  7. Develop safe late-night transportation and public-safety plans
  8. Use measurable naming-rights, sponsorship and philanthropic agreements
  9. Publish construction, operations and community-benefit scorecards
  10. Market Jacksonville nationally while keeping local culture at the center

A flexible riverfront district can serve concerts, theater, comedy, community performances, conferences and selected sporting events. It can complement the Jaguars, AEW and existing Jacksonville venues through coordinated calendars and visitor packages, but it must not pretend one building can host every use or solve loneliness alone. The strongest benefit comes from regular affordable programming, public space and connections that help residents meet, create and belong.

The performance center and athlete-performance campus would be connected by programming and visitor strategy, not treated as the same building. Artists and athletes both depend on disciplined practice, health, recovery, coaching and stages worthy of their work. Jacksonville can coordinate hotels, transit, public safety, dining, waterfront activity and event calendars so a major performance, tournament or game creates benefits across the city.

100 steps toward the City of Tomorrow

These steps are a sequence for study, partnership and delivery. Many require Council approval, independent agencies, private partners or state and federal action.

  1. Listen and measure: Publish a city baseline
  2. Listen and measure: Hold district listening sessions
  3. Listen and measure: Map service complaints
  4. Listen and measure: Audit project delays
  5. Listen and measure: Measure permitting time
  6. Listen and measure: Review public-safety response
  7. Listen and measure: Survey youth needs
  8. Listen and measure: Survey senior needs
  9. Listen and measure: Map veteran services
  10. Listen and measure: Publish findings
  11. Fix essentials: Prioritize potholes
  12. Fix essentials: Repair dangerous sidewalks
  13. Fix essentials: Address drainage hot spots
  14. Fix essentials: Advance septic phaseout
  15. Fix essentials: Improve street lighting
  16. Fix essentials: Clean illegal dumping
  17. Fix essentials: Maintain parks
  18. Fix essentials: Improve bus stops
  19. Fix essentials: Protect emergency routes
  20. Fix essentials: Report completion
  21. Build opportunity: Create apprenticeship partnerships
  22. Build opportunity: Expand youth summer jobs
  23. Build opportunity: Simplify permit guidance
  24. Build opportunity: Open small-business help desks
  25. Build opportunity: Improve vendor access
  26. Build opportunity: Promote first-time homebuyer education
  27. Build opportunity: Support neighborhood retail
  28. Build opportunity: Recruit responsible employers
  29. Build opportunity: Tie incentives to results
  30. Build opportunity: Publish job outcomes
  31. Strengthen community: Launch violence-prevention partnerships
  32. Strengthen community: Support mental-health response
  33. Strengthen community: Coordinate veteran services
  34. Strengthen community: Develop homelessness prevention
  35. Strengthen community: Support food-distribution partners
  36. Strengthen community: Create senior connection programs
  37. Strengthen community: Expand sports and arts
  38. Strengthen community: Build neighborhood events
  39. Strengthen community: Recognize first responders
  40. Strengthen community: Measure trust
  41. Grow culture: Study the performing arts center
  42. Grow culture: Expand local stages
  43. Grow culture: Build artist pipelines
  44. Grow culture: Attract touring acts
  45. Grow culture: Support museums and history
  46. Grow culture: Promote multicultural festivals
  47. Grow culture: Develop film and media work
  48. Grow culture: Grow convention business
  49. Grow culture: Improve visitor wayfinding
  50. Grow culture: Publish tourism results
  51. Advance sports: Open an NBA feasibility process
  52. Advance sports: Contact NBA leadership
  53. Advance sports: Create an independent study commission
  54. Advance sports: Evaluate lawful ownership models
  55. Advance sports: Test arena demand
  56. Advance sports: Coordinate with Jaguars stakeholders
  57. Advance sports: Build AEW event partnerships
  58. Advance sports: Pursue NCAA events
  59. Advance sports: Study boxing and international events
  60. Advance sports: Protect athlete and public safety
  61. Modernize government: Publish appointments
  62. Modernize government: Publish salary methodology
  63. Modernize government: Create a debt dashboard
  64. Modernize government: Open contract records
  65. Modernize government: Map capital projects
  66. Modernize government: Track legislation impacts
  67. Modernize government: Set service standards
  68. Modernize government: Protect data privacy
  69. Modernize government: Improve digital access
  70. Modernize government: Report quarterly
  71. Protect the future: Improve water stewardship
  72. Protect the future: Reduce litter and pollution
  73. Protect the future: Plan resilient infrastructure
  74. Protect the future: Protect tree canopy
  75. Protect the future: Create safe bicycle connections
  76. Protect the future: Improve pedestrian crossings
  77. Protect the future: Coordinate land use and transit
  78. Protect the future: Maintain public assets
  79. Protect the future: Plan lifecycle costs
  80. Protect the future: Measure environmental results
  81. Finance responsibly: Use conservative revenue estimates
  82. Finance responsibly: Identify recurring operating costs
  83. Finance responsibly: Require legal review
  84. Finance responsibly: Require competitive procurement
  85. Finance responsibly: Limit unfunded promises
  86. Finance responsibly: Test public-private structures
  87. Finance responsibly: Publish risks
  88. Finance responsibly: Use independent audits
  89. Finance responsibly: Create stop/go milestones
  90. Finance responsibly: Protect reserves
  91. Deliver together: Assign accountable leaders
  92. Deliver together: Set public deadlines
  93. Deliver together: Invite bipartisan oversight
  94. Deliver together: Engage neighborhoods
  95. Deliver together: Work with employees
  96. Deliver together: Partner with business
  97. Deliver together: Correct failing projects
  98. Deliver together: Celebrate verified progress
  99. Deliver together: Prepare the next four-year plan
  100. Deliver together: Keep the promise to report

Political advertisement paid for and approved by Fitz Desprez, Republican, for Mayor.