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- Mayor Deegan has proposed $3 million in funding for a new esports arena at UNF.
- The arena aims to boost UNF enrollment and engage students in STEM fields through esports.
- The proposal has drawn criticism from some city council members due to potential budget concerns.
Mayor Donna Deegan is backing $3 million for an esports arena at the University of North Florida that UNF says will use the popularity of competitive video games as a springboard for putting students on career paths in science and math fields while also hosting regional and national esports tournaments.
The Mayor’s Budget Review Committee approved the city expenditure on Monday when the panel also supported $4 million in renovations for for Fire Station No. 45 on Sawpit Road and Fire Station No. 54 on Jones Road, plus nearly $693,000 to build a personal protection equipment wash facility at 2610 Fairfax St. for use by Jacksonville firefighters.
The spending on the fire department is not unusual but using city money for esports, which is short for electronic sports, is new for City Hall and will likely draw questions from City Council members when they vote on the $3 million allocation.
City Council member Rory Diamond, a frequent critic of Deegan, said it’s “nuts” for the city to spend money on esports.
Why does UNF want to build an esports arena?
UNF says esports, which is an organized competition among video game players, will attract students to UNF as it strives to reach enrollment of 25,000 students by 2028. “To meet that goal, UNF must effectively compete for new students who have high expectations for their college experience,” the university says in an overview of the esports arena.
UNF also plans to partner with Duval County public schools to use the esports arena as a way to expose high school students to STEM fields because esports overlaps with skills in those areas.
“Esports is a rapidly trending way to engage young students who may not otherwise get excited about science, technology, engineering or mathematics,” the UNF overview says. “By bringing local high school teams to UNF’s campus to compete, students have a chance to see themselves on a college campus — many for the very first time — and explore new pathways to a career.”
In addition to hosting competitions for high school teams, UNF would stage regional and national competitions “bringing visitors to Jacksonville.”
The school would put the esports arena in the John A. Delaney Student Union.
Has the city of Jacksonville supported UNF programs before?
Yes. The city’s support for the UNF campus over the years has been a fraction of the potentially $100 million the city would spend on helping the University of Florida create a graduate campus in downtown, but the city has had some town-gown partnerships with UNF.
UNF has worked with Visit Jacksonville and the Duval County Tourist Development Council to pay for upgrading the track at Hodges Stadium so it could be a repeat host for preliminaries for the NCAA track and field championships. Those track meets bring thousands of visitors to Jacksonville including a meet coming up this year.
Why is Mayor Deegan backing the $3 million for esports?
The city will be tapping into nearly $8 million of money that was not spent by the city in the previous 2023-24 fiscal year. The “recapture” of that money will go toward the esports arena and the fire department projects.
“The fire stations renovations and wash facility will ensure our firefighters have the resources needed to continue keeping citizens safe and insurance rates down,” Deegan said in a statement. “UNF’s Esports arena will help us build a next generation of workforce and position Jacksonville as a leader in the fastest-growing sports genre nationally and globally.”
Vote by City Council will be next step
The funding for the esports arena would need to win City Council approval.
City Council member Nick Howland posted on X that while the proposed spending “sound like worthy projects” the final decision rests with City Council.
Diamond, who often splits with Deegan on city spending, said in a post on X that city faces “projected massive deficits over the next four years” and Deegan wants to spend $3 million on an esports arena.
“Really hope an Esports Arena can pick up trash and fix potholes,” he wrote.
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