Daily's Place

Daily's Place is an amphitheater in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The venue is connected to the south end of TIAA Bank Field and shares space with a "flex field" indoor practice facility for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It opened in May 2017 and seats 5,500 spectators. Naming rights were secured by Daily's, a local convenience store chain.[2]

Daily's Place

Full name	Daily's Place Amphitheater at TIAA Bank Field
Former names	Jacksonville Jaguars Amphitheater (planning/construction)
Address	1 Daily's Place Dr Jacksonville, FL 32202-1928
Location	Stadium District
Owner	City of Jacksonville
Operator	Bold Events
Capacity	5,500
Construction
Broke ground	August 19, 2016
Opened	May 27, 2017
Construction cost	$44.8 million ($47.7 million in 2019 dollars[1])
Architect	Populous
Services engineer	ME Engineers Inc.
General contractor	Danis Construction
Main contractors	Hunt Construction Group
Website
Venue Website

Background

The venue was first proposed in 2009 as a complete renovation of the aging pavilion tent at Metropolitan Park. After a city council meeting held in January 2010, renovations plans were placed on hold, however the demolition of "Kid Kampus" continued with the space becoming a grassy field by 2011.

In early 2015, Shahid Khan, owner of Jaguars, proposed a plan to develop the eastern area of Downtown Jacksonville.[3] Focusing on the Shipyards, the plan sought to develop the space into a commercial, residential and leisure complex. Projected renderings saw the demolition of the pavilion tent and constructing a 9,000 seat outdoor amphitheater.[4] When reviewed by the city council, these plans were denied due to concerns over environmental impact. With the success of the Everbank Field renovations, Khan developed new plans for the Shipyards area, which were ultimately approved by the city.[5]

The Jaguars announced plans for additions and renovations to Everbank Field, including the addition of an amphitheater, at their 2015 State of the Franchise address.[6] The $90 million budget for the enhancements was set to be split by the City of Jacksonville and Khan's Iguana Investments.[7]

Phase 1 of construction saw a revamp of the US Assure Club with turf of the football field. Phase 2 of the plan saw the addition of an amphitheater and an indoor practice field.[8] Initial design concepts saw the amphitheater as an outdoor, covered venue featuring a mezzanine and balcony; with the practice area being a separate building. Both venues were connected to the stadium and parking areas via covered walkway. Later renderings saw the two spaces as one space, connected via one roof and divided via hangar doors.

Construction was set to begin on July 2016[9] however financial restrictions and permits pushed the groundbreaking back to August 2016.[10] Final costs estimated to be over $40 million.[11] The facility was initially announced to be managed by SMG, Iguana Investments created a sister company, Bold Events, that will operate and promote all events at the amphitheater and stadium. With this partnership, 500 presale tickets will be available for Jaguars season ticket holders.

The venue opened on May 27, 2017 with a concert by hometown act, the Tedeschi Trucks Band.[12]

Design

The venue was designed by the architectural firm Populous (who also designed all three sports venues in Jacksonville). First renderings show the amphitheater with a sleek technical design resembling a spaceship. Final design included an indoor tiered setting joined with the flex field. Exterior structure is composed of steel trusses creating the cage façade with PTFE fabric. The fabric roofing (similar to Ashe Stadium) provides natural ventilation and daylight and helps create dramatic LED lighting effect.

The venue features an 80-foot ceiling, the standard 60'x40' concert stage and a back house building. The amphitheater features a main floor, mezzanine and balcony, similar to the Radio City Music Hall. The main floor seats 3,500 with a general admission area (orchestral pit) that can add up to 500. The mezzanine and balcony features 1,000 seats each. The main floor also features 228-foot sliding panels on both sides that can open to create an open-air experience.

Competitive analysis

With its 5,500 capacity, it is the second largest concert venue in Jacksonville (with VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena seating 15,000 and the Moran Theater seating nearly 3,000). Its closest competitor, the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, seats close to 4,000. The manager of the amphitheater, Ryan Murphy, thinks the new downtown amphitheater is a good move for Jacksonville, he feels it will not draw crowds away from the St. Augustine venue.[13] Other amphitheaters in the metro area include:

• Coxwell Amphitheater seating 6,000 (strictly for UNF events)
• Seawalk Pavilion seating 3,000
• Unity Plaza Amphitheater seating 1,500
• Riverfront Amphitheatre seating 350

Jaguars President Mark Lamping states the purpose of the venue was to aid in revitalizing the lackluster downtown area. The venue plans to host 35-40 events per year,[14] with many shows held around the Jaguars home games.[15] Lamping feels this will aid in bringing tourism to the city, while its actual economic impact is unknown.

A part of what we are doing with Daily's Place is making Jaguar home weekends bigger and more special. If there are people who attend Daily's Place who have not had the opportunity to experience Everbank Field, the design of Daily's Place allows people to interact with the stadium as part of their visit. Perhaps through that interaction it will spur some curiosity and maybe lead to a desire to sample Jaguars football.[16]

Notable events

The venue serves as the "home arena" of professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, which was unveiled at the venue in January 2019 and like the Jaguars are owned by the Khan family as lead investors. This follows similar "home arenas" for major wrestling promotions including Madison Square Garden (WWE), Greensboro Coliseum (JCP), Dallas Sportatorium (WCCW), Georgia Dome (WCW), 2300 Arena (ECW), UMBC Event Center (ROH) and the Impact Zone (TNA/Impact Wrestling).

On July 13, 2019, AEW hosted its streaming event Fight for the Fallen at Daily's Place.[17] On March 18 and 25, 2020, AEW temporarily moved its weekly television program Dynamite, as well as its webseries Dark, to Daily's Place, due to cancellations of its traveling broadcasts due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tapings were held behind closed doors with no outside spectators; they used non-competing wrestlers and crew to serve as the live audience.[18][19] After over a month's worth of tapings were done at an "undisclosed location" to prevent fans from showing up (later revealed to be at QT Marshall's Nightmare Factory training complex in Norcross, Georgia),[19] AEW returned to Daily's Place to hold its pay-per-view Double or Nothing on May 23 (with TIAA Bank Field hosting a Stadium Stampede match as the main event), re-located from Las Vegas due to the pandemic.[20][21] Since then, Daily's Place has become AEW's home base, with all subsequent episodes of Dynamite, Dark, and pay-per-views originating from there during the pandemic period.

References

1. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
2. DiRocco, Michael (August 19, 2016). "Jaguars' indoor flex field, amphitheater scheduled to be done by May". ESPN. ESPN Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
3. Gilliam, Derek; Skepple, Junior (March 8, 2017). "Jaguars announce bid to redevelop Shipyards, reveal plans". Jacksonville Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
4. Giermann, Holly (February 19, 2015). "Populous Unveils Plan to Redevelop Jacksonville's Shipyards District". ArchDaily. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
5. "Building Up Jax: Khan's Shipyards bid chosen, Bold City opens downtown". The Coastal. April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
6. "Amphitheater & Upgrades Coming to Everbank Field". The Coastal. December 9, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
7. Chapman, David (December 1, 2015). "$90M upgrades at EverBank Field clear Finance Committee". Financial News & Daily Record. Observer Media Group. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
8. Katrina Suits (February 28, 2017). "Hellas Construction Selected by Jacksonville Jaguars to Install Turf at New Indoor Practice Facility at Daily's Place". www.pressreleasejet.com. p. 1. Retrieved February 28, 2017. The Jacksonville Jaguars have selected Hellas Construction to install its Velocity turf at Daily's Place, the all new covered amphitheater and flex field adjacent to EverBank Field in downtown Jacksonville.
9. Brune, Karen (June 29, 2016). "Work underway on amphitheater, flex field at EverBank Field". Financial News & Daily Record. Observer Media Group. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
10. Bennett, Neal (March 17, 2016). "Amphitheater, Flex Field construction to begin next month, Jaguars confirm". First Coast News. Tegna, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
11. Gilliam, Derek (April 6, 2017). "Hunt+Danis picks up $44.8M permit for construction of Daily's Place". Jacksonville Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
12. "Concert lineup for Daily's Place amphitheater in Jacksonville announced". WJAX-TV. Cox Media Group. January 27, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
13. Korphage, Stuart (August 24, 2016). "Will new amphitheater in Jacksonville curtail bookings in St. Augustine?". The St. Augustine Record. Morris Communications. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
14. Skepple, Junior (January 27, 2017). "Bold Events announces first set of shows to perform at new amphitheater by Everbank Field". Jacksonville Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
15. Kader, Joy (February 15, 2017). "First Coast Connect: Jacksonville Jaguars President Discusses Daily's Place". WJCT. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
16. Skepple, Junior (February 1, 2017). "What the creation of Bold Events and Daily's Place means for the Jags, Downtown". Jacksonville Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
17. "AEW reveals date and venue for Fight for the Fallen". F4WOnline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. March 4, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
18. Mealey, Jason (13 March 2020). "AEW moves show from Rochester to Jacksonville due to coronavirus". News4Jax.com. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
19. Papaleo, Dennis (3 April 2020). "AEW taped weeks of television, Georgia state official attended this week's taping". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
20. "AEW Releases Countdown Preview Clips for Double or Nothing". 411MANIA. 2020-05-23. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
21. Thomas, Jeremy (April 9, 2020). "AEW Double Or Nothing Venue Shut Down Until Further Notice". 411mania. Retrieved April 10, 2020.