EverBank Field EverBank Field ( originally Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and formerly Alltel Stadium ) is an American football stadium in downtown Jacksonville , Florida , and the home stadium facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League ( NFL ) . It also hosts the annual Florida vs . Georgia Football Classic , a college football rivalry game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia , and the Gator Bowl , a post - season college bowl game . The stadium assumed its current name on August 10 , 2010 , following the approval of a five - year naming rights deal with the financial services company EverBank . The current stadium opened in 1995 , on the site of the old Gator Bowl Stadium , erected in 1949 . Located on the St . Johns River , it sits on of land , including portions of the older stadium . At its opening it had a total capacity of 73 , 000 , and expansions over the past decade have since increased that to 76 , 867 . The stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 , and has also held a number of college football games as well as concerts and other events . Construction . EverBank Field is located in Jacksonville ' s Eastside neighborhood , which has been home to football fields since the early 20th century . In 1928 the first permanent football stadium , Fairfield Stadium , was constructed . In 1948 this was expanded and renamed Gator Bowl Stadium , in honor of the annual Gator Bowl game first played two years earlier . The current EverBank Field was built using a few portions of the historic Gator Bowl Stadium . However , all of the elements included from the older stadium — the pedestrian ramp system and the more recent West Upper Deck section of the complex — dated back only to 1982 . Construction started January 3 , 1994 and the new stadium opened on August 18 , 1995 with an exhibition game with the St . Louis Rams . Total construction time was under 20 months and total cost was $ 134 million – $ 60 million of which was provided by the city of Jacksonville . Planning . In January 1993 , representatives from the Universities of Florida and Georgia began negotiating with Jacksonville representatives to renew the contract to host the Florida vs . Georgia Football Classic , the annual college football rivalry game between the two universities . The two teams ' five - year contract with the Gator Bowl ended after the 1994 game , and the Citrus Bowl had offered Florida and Georgia a larger sum of money than the Gator Bowl for the right to host the game . To counter the Citrus Bowl ' s larger monetary offer , Jacksonville mayor Ed Austin proposed a $ 25 million renovation plan to Jacksonville ' s aging Gator Bowl Stadium , which had been built in 1949 . Both teams had expressed concerns about the condition of the aging stadium , and renovations were considered key to enticing the teams to keep returning to Jacksonville , bringing tens of millions of dollars in consumer spending with them . Despite the promise of renovations , Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley was unswayed , so Austin widened the scope of the renovations , increasing their price tag to $ 49 million , and traveled to Athens , Georgia , to talk with Dooley in person . Austin ' s campaigning was partially successful . On March 23 , 1993 , the two universities announced they had signed a five - year contract with the Gator Bowl , running from 1997 to 2002 . The contract was contingent on Austin successfully passing the $ 49 million renovation bond issue through the Jacksonville City Council and the city completing the renovations by the 1996 game . On Tuesday , May 11 , the Jacksonville City Council approved a $ 219 . 5 million bond issue , including the $ 49 million for the renovation of the Gator Bowl . NFL expansion . Soon after the approval of the bond issue , investors interested in attracting a new National Football League team to Jacksonville requested that another $ 30 million be added to the $ 49 million renovations in order to make the stadium more attractive for a professional team . That number climbed higher throughout the summer , and eventually the city reached an agreement with the leading group of investors hoping to attract an NFL team to Jacksonville . On July 1 , the city and investors reached a lease agreement contingent on the city investing $ 112 . 3 million for improving the Gator Bowl . The lease agreement later collapsed when the Jacksonville City Council voted to send the lease back to a committee for further study rather than approving it . One month after the proposed deal fell through , city officials and investors tried again and were successful in negotiating a deal that included a pledge to spend $ 121 million on renovations to the Gator Bowl . Due to the expanded renovations , it was announced that the 1994 Florida - Georgia game would have to be moved out of the Gator Bowl , as had the 1995 game , in order to provide time for the newly expanded renovation plan to be completed before 1996 . In the end , the expanded bond issue and renovation program proved to be successful , as Jacksonville was awarded the 30th NFL franchise — the Jacksonville Jaguars — on November 30 , 1993 . Almost as soon as the celebration surrounding Jacksonville ' s new NFL team died down , however , a renovation contractor ' s plan to give eight percent of the stadium work to minority - owned businesses drew criticism . The NAACP and another group said African - American businesses should have been awarded twice that amount of work . Current stadium . The stadium ' s re - opening day was also the home debut of the Jaguars during the 1995 NFL season . It was the first time that an expansion NFL team had played its first game in a new facility . The Gator Bowl returned as a New Year ' s Day bowl game on January 1 , 1996 , following the 1995 NCAA season . In 1997 , the stadium changed its name to Alltel Stadium after naming rights were acquired by Alltel , a telecommunications company best known as a wireless carrier . The name Alltel Stadium stopped being used by the city after January 2007 when the contract expired . In 2005 , the stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in which the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24 – 21 in front of 78 , 125 , the largest Super Bowl in attendance since 1994 . In 2003 and 2004 , $ 47 million in improvements to the stadium were implemented to prepare for the Super Bowl . These improvements included the addition of a unique sports bar in the south end zone called the " Bud Zone , " a larger and wider video and scoring display from Daktronics , escalators in the north and south end zone , and a new " terrace suite " called the " Sky Patio " right above the " Bud Zone " in the south endzone . Before the 2005 season , mainly due to low attendance figures and looming blackout s , team officials installed a series of tarps to reduce the seating capacity for Jaguars games . The covers were placed to block out seven sections in the upper north endzone and four in each upper deck section , located on the corners of each . This puts 9 , 703 seats out of service , leaving the stadium with 67 , 164 seats for the regular season . While some believed that this was a sign that the city couldn ' t handle having an NFL team , the current 67 , 164 seats available is actually very close to Wayne Weaver ' s first proposal to renovate the stadium during his bid for an NFL team in 1992 before the city council failed to approve it , mainly due to not having enough seats to accommodate the annual Florida - Georgia game . Despite the changes , however , blackouts have still occurred , including two of their first three home games in 2007 : against the Atlanta Falcons on September 16 and against the Houston Texans on October 14 . In 2009 , nine of ten games were blacked out locally . It is believed that the 2008 US Financial Crisis played a major part in the 2009 season blackouts , leading to insufficient ticket sales , with only the final home engagement of the regular season , with the Indianapolis Colts , managing to sell out . However , the Jaguars ' 2010 season saw one of the biggest ticket sales turnarounds in recent memory , which lead to zero blackouts that year . As a result , it has been speculated that during a League spring meeting in early 2011 ( which was covered by NFL Network ) , several NFL teams have inquired about the Jaguars ' 2010 ticket sales model . For the Super Bowl , Florida - Georgia game , and occasionally the Gator Bowl , temporary bleachers are put up in the south end zone and the tarps are removed , raising capacity to over 84 , 000 . The attendance record was set on September 29 , 2007 when 85 , 413 watched Florida State defeat Alabama in what was dubbed the River City Showdown . Each school received nearly 36 , 000 tickets , and the Gator Bowl Association added 5 , 800 additional seats . On July 26 , 2010 , naming rights to the stadium were bought by EverBank , one of the nation ' s largest privately - held bank holding companies with approximately $ 11 . 2 billion in assets . On August 10 , the deal was officially approved by the Jacksonville City Council with a 14 - 3 vote . During the Jaguars ' off - season , the team not only managed to retain more than 90 % of their season ticket holders , but also managed to acquire at least 13 , 000 new season ticket holders according to the " fuel gauge " meter that was constantly present on the team ' s website during the off - season . On September 12 , 2010 , those numbers were proven to be correct as the Jaguars opened up their 2010 season to a total of 63 , 636 out of 67 , 164 tickets distributed in their season opener against the Denver Broncos , which they won 24 - 17 .