The Jacksonville Jaguars

[Steve]

Something else I've noticed after the past couple years of road games...  Are we the only stadium that puts their club seats on the most premium spot of the field?

I believe that is correct.

Most stadiums I have seen, the club seats are sort of that middle tier of seats just below the boxes.

I'm pretty sure the Jags were the first in the NFL to have, "club seats". It was a really new concept; the bridge between a Skybox and a regular seat.

To your point, most club seats are now on a "club level" that is a middle deck that stretches around most of the stadium. It works out to be about the same number of seats as we have. If you look, aside from domed stadiums most of them look like ours, half full. But it doesn't seem to look as bad there as it does here. I'm not sure there's an easy fix for it though.

[jaxjags]

I agree with everybody here. If the product on the field doesn't improve and bring a winning team to Jax, the ticket sales will erode. I am a good example. Have been an inaugural ticket holder until this year. All types of seats but been in club seats for 5 years and decided the cost was not worth it. If you have been doing this for 25 years, you get tired of the "will be better next year" tease. The team has not really been consistently good sine the 1990's. PLUS my club seats have gone up approximately 35% over the last 5 years. They offered me a $50 discount to resign. What is that about? I said consistently winning team on the field and I may reconsider. Also I agree with smmatt, the clubs are just OK. they can get crowded, hot and food is "just OK". LOL

[Tacachale]

The stadium size thing was never any more than an artificial issue created by the NFL through the blackout rule. With that BS gone, it's a minor perception thing that doesn't actually matter.

So the supply side is irrelevant? I would disagree especially when it comes to premium. And, I think the Jags think it is relevant considering the reduction in # of seats as they tried to increase the value of a ticket to justify the large ticket increases.

I hope you at least think stadium size matters when we get the inevitable request for remodeled/new stadium. I don't want to pay for it anyway, but I really don't want to pay for unused space. Kind of how I feel about the people who buy that extra house space. Not that having furnished rooms you never use isn't impressive.

I think the stadium size is one issue among many, and by far not the most important one. The reason it initially became a big deal was because cities would be punished with blackouts if they didn't hit a certain capacity. It was based on percentage of stadium filled rather than actual tickets sold, so teams like the Jags with relatively big stadiums were more affected than they otherwise would have been. The NFL never had any good reason to do this beyond wanting to punish fans for watching on TV - while also making the stadiums look better on the TV they didn't want too many local fans to watch. I always thought this was some BS. If the fans are paying for the team, they should be able to watch it however they want.

Without blackouts hanging over the teams, it's a minor issue compared to things like quality of the product on the field, good marketing, game day experience, probably even concession prices. In most cases - there are teams where the stadium is so much smaller than the demand that they can charge a higher price. But few teams regularly reach their full capacity.

[Tacachale]

The stadium size thing was never any more than an artificial issue created by the NFL through the blackout rule. With that BS gone, it's a minor perception thing that doesn't actually matter.

So the supply side is irrelevant? I would disagree especially when it comes to premium. And, I think the Jags think it is relevant considering the reduction in # of seats as they tried to increase the value of a ticket to justify the large ticket increases.

I hope you at least think stadium size matters when we get the inevitable request for remodeled/new stadium. I don't want to pay for it anyway, but I really don't want to pay for unused space. Kind of how I feel about the people who buy that extra house space. Not that having furnished rooms you never use isn't impressive.

I think the stadium size is one issue among many, and by far not the most important one. The reason it initially became a big deal was because cities would be punished with blackouts if they didn't hit a certain capacity. It was based on percentage of stadium filled rather than actual tickets sold, so teams like the Jags with relatively big stadiums were more affected than they otherwise would have been. The NFL never had any good reason to do this beyond wanting to punish fans for watching on TV - while also making the stadiums look better on the TV they didn't want too many local fans to watch. I always thought this was some BS. If the fans are paying for the team, they should be able to watch it however they want.

Without blackouts hanging over the teams, it's a minor issue compared to things like quality of the product on the field, good marketing, game day experience, probably even concession prices. In most cases - there are teams where the stadium is so much smaller than the demand that they can charge a higher price. But few teams regularly reach their full capacity.

I agree the blackout rule was dumb but you seem to be having trouble getting over it. It has been gone for 5 years. Time to move on

Lol, only when people continue to bring up our somewhat large stadium as something holding the Jags back from... actually I'm not sure what it's supposed to be holding us back from now. The Super Bowl?

[I-10east]

Most on PFT think that JAX got the better deal over LAR. I agree. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/10/15/jaguars-send-jalen-ramsey-to-rams-for-two-first-round-picks/

[MusicMan]

"The saddest part of the Ramsey debacle IMO is another lost first round draft choice. Ramsey wants out because we are not a winner. Plain and simple."

It's like Deja Vu all over again.  Joining FRDP Dante Fowler Jr .  I forget, what did we get for DFJr? (2019 third round pick (Quincy Williams?) and 2020 5th Rd pick).

And when trying to determine who got the better end of the deal, it depends on who is making the draft picks.......

[Ken_FSU]

Not sure if it is the Jags...the Noles...but I am getting concerned about The FSU mental state.

Welcome to the club.

RE: Stadium size, perception is reality. To the average Jacksonville citizen, tuning in on any given gameday and seeing 5,000 to 10,000 empty seats creates the perception that the Jaguars aren't a hot ticket. It also creates the perception that there's no need to buy tickets at full price because there's so much excess supply that you'll be able to get in the door for well below face value for all but the biggest games. All the empties in the club section undermine the perception that it's an elite, coveted section. Free agents and the media pick up on it. Winning all the games in the world or tripling the marketing budget isn't going to change the fact that Jacksonville's an insanely small market for the NFL, in Florida, without the regional support most other teams enjoy.

67,000 is still smaller than the original configuration, but even our biggest game of the last decade, the playoff game against the Bills, was only full because a HUGE chunk of the stadium was occupied by traveling Bills fans.

The larger than necessary stadium has for years created the perception that Jacksonville struggles with fan support, despite the fact that our per capita attendance has consistently remained in the top three to five in the league (roughly 1 out of every 20 Jacksonville citizens needs to attend home games to sell out the stadium). 56,000 seats would be a hot ticket in 2019, particularly with overall NFL attendance trends and a move toward smaller stadiums. Would guarantee a full house whether the team was 14-2 or 2-14, or whether the economy was roaring or contracting. Would remove some of the low hanging fruit that the Jags leverage to move games to London or coerce the city into one-sided development deals.

Wayne Weaver wanted 62,000 - 65,000 seats during the expansion race, which I absolutely believe would have still landed the team in Jacksonville. It wasn't stadium capacity that won us the team, it was the modern amenities and, more importantly, the 9,000 club tickets that Touchdown Jacksonville pre-sold.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

"The saddest part of the Ramsey debacle IMO is another lost first round draft choice. Ramsey wants out because we are not a winner. Plain and simple."

It's like Deja Vu all over again.  Joining FRDP Dante Fowler Jr .  I forget, what did we get for DFJr? (2019 third round pick (Quincy Williams?) and 2020 5th Rd pick).

And when trying to determine who got the better end of the deal, it depends on who is making the draft picks.......

If we're keeping score, we drafted (3) 1st round picks:  Bortles, Fowler & Ramsey that are now all employed by the Rams.

We have gotten in return:  (2) 1s '20 & '21,  (1)3rd - Q. Williams '19 & (1) 5 '20

I agree it depends on who we pick, but so far, I think we're on the better end of this one.  The Rams are currently 3-3 & 2 games back in their own division.  They've been trending down since before the Superbowl last year.  There's a strong chance that next year's pick from the Rams will be between 10-20.

Specifically in the Jalen trade, I think the FO got it right.  They held out from just dumping him to a team that would have probably picked in one of the last 5 spots.  He's not going to the playoffs.  He's out of the conference.  He has to pay that ungodly state income tax (I know, I know... the money doesn't matter).  Most importantly, he gets to play with BB5 again!



How excited do you really think Ramsey is right now? 

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Speaking of who's going to do the drafting...

As of today, here are the Jags' draft selections from 2020-21:

2020 first-round (No. 6, No. 16)
2020 second-round (No. 45)
2020 third-round (No. 76)
2020 fourth-round  (No. 107)
2020 fifth-round (No. 138 or No. 143 depending on which pick the Steelers take for Josh Dobbs)
2020 sixth-round (No. 169, No. 187)
2020 seventh-round (No. 200)
A selection in all seven rounds of the 2021 draft, plus an extra first and fourth-rounder for Ramsey.

https://jaguarswire.usatoday.com/2019/10/15/jags-now-have-18-draft-selections-in-2020-21/?fbclid=IwAR0hB4WwWJckcRLolMiN1xPNrMiTw86ZQEruKXlR8XaGbVik68LfpHQSPDA

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Thank goodness  they didn't go with Caldwells trade idea of Ramsey for Blake straight up.

Pretty sure that was the plan going in, but we couldn't get Ramsey to agree to a long term contract that would have left us on the hook for an insane amount of money paid to a player on another team.

There's still hope though....  Gurley's on one leg and LF27 would sign a long-term deal in a heartbeat. 

[MusicMan]

The Los Angeles Jaguars???

Would really prefer we have a nucleus of All Pros on OUR team, derived from our outstanding first round drafts picks over the last 8-10 years.
A guy can dream, right?

How is it that The Patriots can be so dominant in a league designed for parity?

[thelakelander]

How excited do you really think Ramsey is right now? 

24 years old with millions to spend and living in Los Angeles.......he's probably on cloud nine.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

How excited do you really think Ramsey is right now? 

24 years old with millions to spend and living in Los Angeles.......he's probably on cloud nine.

But he just wants to win?

[BridgeTroll]

The Los Angeles Jaguars???

Would really prefer we have a nucleus of All Pros on OUR team, derived from our outstanding first round drafts picks over the last 8-10 years.
A guy can dream, right?

How is it that The Patriots can be so dominant in a league designed for parity?

Three words... Bills, Jets, Dolphins.  Easily win division... usually #1 seed = home field

[BridgeTroll]

The Los Angeles Jaguars???

Would really prefer we have a nucleus of All Pros on OUR team, derived from our outstanding first round drafts picks over the last 8-10 years.
A guy can dream, right?

How is it that The Patriots can be so dominant in a league designed for parity?

Three words... Bills, Jets, Dolphins.  Easily win division... usually #1 seed = home field

Might want to check some actual data. But the excuses never get old. Personally, I like league conspiracy

Since 2001... Patriots' 86-24 record against the AFC East