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For decades, Jacksonville had earned a reputation of being a good football town, hospitable for both college and pro football. Every year the city hosts the Gator Bowl, an annual civic highlight traditionally accompanied by parties, ceremonies, parades and other events leading up to the game. The annual University of Georgia vs. University of Florida game is also played in Jacksonville.

The Gator Bowl stadium was built out of steel trusses during the Great Depression and was frequently built onto, with the final addition of the reinforced-concrete west upper deck coming in 1982. The stadium hosted short-lived teams in both the World Football League (Jacksonville Sharks/Express), the United States Football League Jacksonville Bulls), and the occasional NFL exhibition game. The city briefly attempted to lure the Baltimore Colts, whose team owner Robert Irsay famously landed a helicopter in the stadium as thousands of Jacksonville citizens urged him to move the team there. City leaders also attempted to get the Houston Oilers to move to Jacksonville at one point in the late 1980's. Great efforts were made to lure the Oilers, including the creation of a "Jacksonville Oilers" banner and designation of a specific section of the Gator Bowl as a non-alcohol, family section for proposed home games. Though the efforts proved unsuccessful, it did serve as a launching pad for the city's attempt to gain an NFL expansion team.

In 1991, the NFL made a decision to expand the league by two teams, originally in time for the 1993 season. The league had not expanded since the 1976 season with the addition of Seattle and Tampa Bay and with the sport growing the NFL felt the time was right to add additional franchises. Five cities were ultimately chosen as finalists for the two new teams: Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jacksonville. From the beginning, Charlotte and St. Louis were considered the heavy favorites to win, with Baltimore also a strong possibility. Though not as strong a bid, Memphis was still considered an outside possibility, as the NFL did not have a presence in the area. For many reasons, Jacksonville was considered the darkest horse in the field. First, Florida already had two NFL teams: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who played about a four-hour ride away, and the Miami Dolphins, who were already popular in Jacksonville and most of the state. Secondly, any expansion team would also have to compete with existing college football interests. And thirdly, the Jacksonville bid was mired in turmoil and conflict throughout the process.

The ownership group formed even before the NFL announced its intentions to expand, in 1989. The group called itself Touchdown Jacksonville! and it placed its formal application with the NFL in 1991. The original ownership group had included future Governor Jeb Bush and Jacksonville developer and political kingmaker Tom Petway. It was in 1991 this group confidently announced that it would call its team the Jacksonville Jaguars. After some defections and mutinies, the group came to be led by the relatively deep pockets of J. Wayne Weaver, shoe magnate and founder of Nine West. From the time Touchdown Jacksonville! came to being, they faced several challenges.

In April 1993, the NFL indicated to Jacksonville officials that additional renovations to the Gator Bowl on top of what had already been committed would be needed. After several weeks of negotiations, and at least one breakdown, an agreement was reached that capped the city's liability for construction and was sent to the City Council for approval. However, on July 21, 1993, the Council failed to approve the financing package, dooming the bid. Deposits on season tickets were refunded, and Touchdown Jacksonville!'s offices were shuttered. Largely due to being underwhelmed by the remaining suitors, the NFL and others encouraged Jacksonville interests to revisit the issue and resurrect their bid. About a month later negotiations between the city and Touchdown Jacksonville! resumed, and a slightly revised aid package was approved by a solid majority of the City Council. Officially back in the race, Jacksonville officials were energized, indicated by a drive to sell club seats that resulted in over 10,000 seats being sold in 10 days. The Jaguars also gained a high-profile investor when former NFL star player Deron Cherry signed on as a limited partner.After Charlotte was granted the 29th franchise on October 26, the NFL announced they would name the 30th franchise on or before November 30, 1993. By this time, conventional wisdom was that St. Louis would get the 30th franchise. In fact, so sure were some in St. Louis that the franchise would be granted that T-shirts of the "St. Louis Stallions" (the proposed new team name) briefly went on sale at some St. Louis area sporting goods shops. However, it was not meant to be, as at 2:12 p.m. (EST) on the afternoon of November 30, Jacksonville was announced as the winning franchise. The next evening, 25,000 fans celebrated at the Gator Bowl as season ticket sales were kicked off. Within ten days, the Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville's daily newspaper) announced sales had passed the 55,000 seat mark. (Incidentally, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Tennessee would gain relocated NFL franchises in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively).

After the Gator Bowl on January 3, 1994, work commenced on renovations to the Gator Bowl, which would need to be completed prior to the start of the 1995 season. In fact, the renovation was essentially the construction of a new stadium, as the entire lower bowl was demolished and replaced with a reinforced concrete superstructure. The stadium would be completed on time and hosted its first preseason NFL game on August 18, 1995. (For 1994 and 1995, Georgia and Florida alternated home games in their series, resuming the neutral-site matchups in Jacksonville in 1996). The Jaguars played their first-ever game in Canton, Ohio in the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game. Their opponent in the pre-season classic was the NFL's other expansion franchise, the Carolina Panthers. From the start, it was apparent that the NFL's expansion draft and the free-agent market had allowed both Jacksonville and Carolina to develop more quickly than expansion teams of the past. Although the Panthers came away with a 20-14 victory, it was obvious that both teams were ready to compete in the NFL. The Jaguars' impressive 4-12 inaugural season record was one win better than the NFL's previous best for an expansion team. The Jaguars have quickly become one of the dominant teams in the NFL and perennial playoff participants. The team reached the AFC Championship game in 1996 and 1999.

--SOURCES: PROFOOTBALLHOF.COM / WIKIPEDIA.ORG