Jags Vs Ravens-MNF

[tufsu1]

Monday night is no longer the premium for the NFL (which was obvious by the quality of the officiating crew at the game)...that has been given to NBC and Sunday night.

As such, ratings for Monday night games over recent years do nto compare with the past

[I-10east]

^^^Good point. When MNF was on ABC, the ratings where higher than they are now on ESPN. Contrary to most people's belief, not everyone has cable, or dish. Broadcast channels (like FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS) are ratings juggernauts compared to cable channels.

[copperfiend]

I wasnt alive for the Cosell days, but I loved watching MNF as a kid when it was Al Michaels and Frank Gifford. It always seemed like an event. And this was during the 80's, the heyday of the Niners, Bears, Redskins, Elway and Marino.

The ESPN version of MNF is pretty light weight and Gruden is terrible.

[JeffreyS]

Has anyone else heard the rumor about Fred Smith (FedEx) buying Weaver's share of the Jaguars?  I heard it from a couple different sources last night that would have a reason to be know.

I heard this about two weeks ago from a good source.  Mr. Smith would like to buy a team and has looked at the financing prospects for the Jags.  He also sits on the Board at the Mayo clinic as a tie to the community.  A good factor for us is a team in Memphis is not probable.  I believe there have been discussions.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I was just on the Ravens website snooping, and I see they did an article on the 18th calling us their "expansion debry rivals". The article when on to state that they dont understand how Jacksonville and Carolina even got teams. And that Jacksonville is in the bottom of attendance every single year. ( only happened in 2009, so they need to get their facts staright) I cant believe people are still upset about us having a team 16 years later. yes their team got moved and got turned for an expansion team, but they have a team now, so why cry over something that happened in 1993??

Ladies and Gentlemen, people hate us because of jealousy. They never wanted us to have a team and never will. No matter WHAT we do.  They hated us even more because of all records we broke and we were making exapsion franchise history.

So our victory last night made me feel even better after reading that.

We weren't even last in attendance in 2009; we were 30th, ahead of Detroit and Oakland.

Speaking as a native Marylander, Baltimore seems obsessed with complaining that it was passed over in expansion in 1993.  The lingering bitterness was obvious in certain fans' behavior on Monday night.  Lots of efforts to try to start Los Angeles smack talk in particular.  Also, late last year or earlier this year, in that ESPN documentary about the Colts' marching band, a number of Colts fans whined about how Jacksonville possibly could have gotten an expansion team over Baltimore.  This happens in print, as Duvaldude noted, every time the Jags play the Ravens.

You'd think after they felt the pain of losing a team in 1984 they wouldn't laugh about the prospect for another city (or lead with their chins in trash talking, since the obvious response is "didn't your city actually lose a team?").  Of course, considering these people mourn and faint and shoot documentaries about the agony of having their team stolen in 1984, but see no problem with stealing another city's team in 1996, they seem to have little sense of irony or proportion.

[downtownjag]

Has anyone else heard the rumor about Fred Smith (FedEx) buying Weaver's share of the Jaguars?  I heard it from a couple different sources last night that would have a reason to be know.

I heard this about two weeks ago from a good source.  Mr. Smith would like to buy a team and has looked at the financing prospects for the Jags.  He also sits on the Board at the Mayo clinic as a tie to the community.  A good factor for us is a team in Memphis is not probable.  I believe there have been discussions.

Did you hear it was a 3-5 year succession plan where Weaver phases out and Mr. Buyer phases in?

[copperfiend]

Has anyone else heard the rumor about Fred Smith (FedEx) buying Weaver's share of the Jaguars?  I heard it from a couple different sources last night that would have a reason to be know.

I heard this about two weeks ago from a good source.  Mr. Smith would like to buy a team and has looked at the financing prospects for the Jags.  He also sits on the Board at the Mayo clinic as a tie to the community.  A good factor for us is a team in Memphis is not probable.  I believe there have been discussions.

Dan Hicken actually brought this up on the radio a few months ago as he had heard rumors. A couple things I wonder about. Fred Smith is in his late 60's, so it would not be an ideal buyer even if he is 100% committed to Jacksonville. I did find out that he has a son that is an assistant coach with the Titans and played college football at UNC. If this rumor is true, I wonder what percentage his kids would have.

[KenFSU]

If I recall correctly from the documentary (which was great by the way), wasn't Jacksonville one of the cities trying to steal the Colts from Baltimore back in 1984? That could certainly lead to some bad blood.

[Wacca Pilatka]

If I recall correctly from the documentary (which was great by the way), wasn't Jacksonville one of the cities trying to steal the Colts from Baltimore back in 1984? That could certainly lead to some bad blood.

That would be understandable but it doesn't seem to be the Ravens' fans main objection.  They are more hung up on 1993.

Jacksonville did try to swipe the Colts, though it wasn't a player in 1984.  Colt owner Bob Irsay started shopping for a new city in the late 70s and Jacksonville made its famous "Colt Fever" bid for the team.  Memphis and Phoenix were also making entreaties to Irsay.  At that point Irsay decided not to move, but continued to pressure Baltimore for a new stadium.  Then Indianapolis emerged as a suitor and Jacksonville and Memphis more or less faded.  By the time the pressure came to a head in early 1984 - when Maryland threatened to seize ownership of the Colts by eminent domain - the two cities considered serious contenders for the Colts were Indianapolis and Phoenix, and Irsay hurriedly put together the deal with Indianapolis and moved the team in the middle of the night.

I should add that I thought the documentary was great too, but was struck at both the insults to Jacksonville and the complete lack of remorse for stealing a team from Cleveland after all the lamentations over the theft of the Colts.  It also neglected to mention Baltimore's serious attendance problems in the early 80s (granted, the team was awful, but they had a lot fewer people in the stands than even we had with our 2009 debacle).

[Tacachale]

^^^Good point. When MNF was on ABC, the ratings where higher than they are now on ESPN. Contrary to most people's belief, not everyone has cable, or dish. Broadcast channels (like FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS) are ratings juggernauts compared to cable channels.

Event TV is dead. There are simply to many other options both for football fans and non-fans to make MNF a big draw anymore. Even people who might now be interested in whatever game is one can record it easily. There's no way this (or any other television "event") will ever be as big as they once were.

[duvaldude08]

One thing I will say. We have a GREAT fan base. We are stucking by them through the rough times and I guarentee that is helping them ALOT. If that stadium was empty, those guys would have given up by now.  Dang Hicken even made mention how are other florida counter parts are struggling to fill their stadium and sales tickets, and we are not. Yeah we get extensions, but on game day is always 62,000 people in the seats. I loved the crowd and the energy Monday night. The fans definately was a condience booster for them Im sure.

[BridgeTroll]

^^^Good point. When MNF was on ABC, the ratings where higher than they are now on ESPN. Contrary to most people's belief, not everyone has cable, or dish. Broadcast channels (like FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS) are ratings juggernauts compared to cable channels.

Event TV is dead. There are simply to many other options both for football fans and non-fans to make MNF a big draw anymore. Even people who might now be interested in whatever game is one can record it easily. There's no way this (or any other television "event") will ever be as big as they once were.

Sure they are.  Matchups matter.  No one in the rest of the US cares about the 1-5 Jaguars.  They REALLY didnt care when they were playing the Ravens... who "everybody knew" was going to crush them.  The MNF rating for the first game of the season GB vs NO were through the roof.  Last years Super Bowl did very well in the ratings.

Matchups matter... importance of the outcome... matters.

[Tacachale]

^That's what I mean. In former times the viewer had less choice as to what they got to watch, so people who wanted to see some football watched what was available in their area. MNF was big because the whole country was watching. Nowadays with cable and satellite TV the interested can see really any game, not to mention other programs, and don't need to worry about MNF unless it's going to be a good one.

And even those who are interested in the Monday night game can record it easily and watch it when they feel like.

[Wacca Pilatka]

One thing I will say. We have a GREAT fan base. We are stucking by them through the rough times and I guarentee that is helping them ALOT. If that stadium was empty, those guys would have given up by now.  Dang Hicken even made mention how are other florida counter parts are struggling to fill their stadium and sales tickets, and we are not. Yeah we get extensions, but on game day is always 62,000 people in the seats. I loved the crowd and the energy Monday night. The fans definately was a condience booster for them Im sure.

It was louder because I was there 

[KenFSU]

^That's what I mean. In former times the viewer had less choice as to what they got to watch, so people who wanted to see some football watched what was available in their area. MNF was big because the whole country was watching. Nowadays with cable and satellite TV the interested can see really any game, not to mention other programs, and don't need to worry about MNF unless it's going to be a good one.

And even those who are interested in the Monday night game can record it easily and watch it when they feel like.

Despite the record low rating, when I said that I hope the rating doesn't cause Jacksonville to be overlooked for Monday Night games, I wasn't talking overall television patterns, but rather relative ratings compared to other MNF numbers. If we look at last year's average MNF rating (a 10.5), the 5.8 number that the Ravens/Jags game did was, all other excuses aside, absolutely dreadful. I agree though that matchups are a key selling point, and this matchup was pretty rough from a national interest point of view.

And, not to go off on a side rant, but I would probably argue that sports is pretty much the only "Event Viewing" left on television, as evident by Monday Night Football scoring the six highest rated broadcasts in cable television history last season. People want to watch sports on TV live, as it happens. Something very significant (and actually measurable, if you look at things like tape-delayed Olympic ratings versus live) is lost by watching sports after the fact.

Jacksonville is a super small market, and hopefully the NFL realizes that our Monday Night games need to be against larger markets than Baltimore in order to rate well.