Shad Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and worth an estimated $3.8 billion, donated $250,000 to Rick Scott’s “Let’s Get to Work” committee just weeks before the City of Jacksonville agreed to pay the majority of a multi-million dollar upgrade to the Jags’ stadium.
The News Service of Florida reports that Khan’s contribution was posted on the committee’s website Sept. 30, three weeks after Scott hosted Khan at the Governor’s Mansion for a Sunday night meeting about unspecified economic-development opportunities.
Meanwhile, Field of Schemes reports that the city – not its billionaire owner – will pay the majority of a $63 million upgrade to the Jaguars’ stadium, which will include two new video scoreboards and an indoor pool. The money was recently “found” in the Sports Complex Capital Maintenance Fund:
Only one problem: As the Florida Times-Union previously reported, using the maintenance fund for capital improvements means it’s not there for maintenance, and there’s already “a long list of stadium maintenance upgrades” that need to be done. None of the press coverage of yesterday’s announcement bothered to mention that, but then, when you have a media universe where ESPN runs the headline “Khan kicks in $20M to help stadium” when the Jaguars owner already promised that months ago — and it’s less than half what the public will be kicking in — we’re not exactly talking prize-winning journalism here.
Hearing this news, here’s hoping the Broncos beat the Jags and its owner by more than the record-setting spread of twenty-eight points.
