Caution: LA is coming to steal your NFL team in 2011

[blizz01]

Case in point -

Weavers announce $100,000 marathon challenge

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401820/mark-woods/2011-07-26/weavers-announce-100000-marathon-challenge

[Tacachale]

^The comments about not being worried, how the LA plan won't work, etc. are what I was referring to regarding compla

Who's complacent? For the most part in this thread, we're the choir.

We can't worry about what AEG does. We can only worry over and control what we do as individuals.

The Mayor has said repeatedly he backs the team and that the Jags belong in Jacksonville.  He has publicly and privately offered his support, and I'm sure we'll hear more cheerleading as the weeks roll on.  Not sure what more he can do, since the Jaguars (for the moment) have all the commitment they need from the city financially.

The lockout ended yesterday.  Even the team has been loathe to make a hard push for tickets until yesterday because the lockout was such a touchy subject. 

Even so, they're hitting the ground running, filmed TV spots today, and have print/billboard ads ready to go as well. Touchdown Jax/Team Teal are ramping up this week.

I know 3 people who are in the Champions Club who've been selling tickets like hotcakes over the last 2 days.

Trust me, we're going to hear about tickets and supporting the team from every direction between now and the start of the season.

The comments about not being worried, how the LA deal is overblown, etc., are what I was referring to regarding complacency.

As for the mayor, there's plenty else he can do. He can make a case to the NFL about reviewing their blackout policy, for at least this season. The city could buy tickets to distribute to staff, the way it used to before Peyton ended the practice. Even buying a small number of tickets would send the right message to corporations who also do this. And of course he can resolve the stadium improvement issues and rental fees for the stadium.

[duvaldude08]

^The comments about not being worried, how the LA plan won't work, etc. are what I was referring to regarding compla

Who's complacent? For the most part in this thread, we're the choir.

We can't worry about what AEG does. We can only worry over and control what we do as individuals.

The Mayor has said repeatedly he backs the team and that the Jags belong in Jacksonville.  He has publicly and privately offered his support, and I'm sure we'll hear more cheerleading as the weeks roll on.  Not sure what more he can do, since the Jaguars (for the moment) have all the commitment they need from the city financially.

The lockout ended yesterday.  Even the team has been loathe to make a hard push for tickets until yesterday because the lockout was such a touchy subject. 

Even so, they're hitting the ground running, filmed TV spots today, and have print/billboard ads ready to go as well. Touchdown Jax/Team Teal are ramping up this week.

I know 3 people who are in the Champions Club who've been selling tickets like hotcakes over the last 2 days.

Trust me, we're going to hear about tickets and supporting the team from every direction between now and the start of the season.

The comments about not being worried, how the LA deal is overblown, etc., are what I was referring to regarding complacency.

As for the mayor, there's plenty else he can do. He can make a case to the NFL about reviewing their blackout policy, for at least this season. The city could buy tickets to distribute to staff, the way it used to before Peyton ended the practice. Even buying a small number of tickets would send the right message to corporations who also do this. And of course he can resolve the stadium improvement issues and rental fees for the stadium.

The city buying tickets right now would NOT send the right message to Jacksonville. Unfortantely, we can barely afford to run the city let alone buy some tickets. Im sure when we get in the position where we have a surplus in our budget, that would be fesiable. The most I see him doing is maybe buying some out of his own pocket. And Everyone has been making their case to the NFL about the blackout policy. And theyve made it clear they are not changing it.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Maybe they should deduct the season ticket costs out of their paycheck along with their pension payments.  It would only be about $15 every pay period and they would never know.   They could be led to believe that season tickets are a perk for working for the city.

Then they would be more likely to pay for an additional ticket or two out of pocket for their family.

Are you reading this marketing department - you need lobbyists banging down the city pension people's door. 

BTW, since I just generated several thousand, locked-in season tickets a year, ended the blackout worries and taken us completely out of the LA discussion - can you go ahead and comp the two that I'm already paying for?   

Sincerely, NRW 

[duvaldude08]

Maybe they should deduct the season ticket costs out of their paycheck along with their pension payments.  It would only be about $15 every pay period and they would never know.   They could be led to believe that season tickets are a perk for working for the city.

Then they would be more likely to pay for an additional ticket or two out of pocket for their family.

Are you reading this marketing department - you need lobbyists banging down the city pension people's door. 

BTW, since I just generated several thousand, locked-in season tickets a year, ended the blackout worries and taken us completely out of the LA discussion - can you go ahead and comp the two that I'm already paying for?   

Sincerely, NRW 

Heyyy your in the wrong business westsider. I like that idea LOL

[ac]

The comments about not being worried, how the LA deal is overblown, etc., are what I was referring to regarding complacency.

Oh, the LA thing is very real. Some town is going to lose it's team, possibly two. However, aside from attendance there are other teams with much more pressing issues re: facilities. As one example, the Vikings lease is up after this season and they want a new venue. Same with the Chargers. The Raiders and 9ers are making noise and there's no set plan for a Bay Area or Silicon Valley stadium just yet. Additionally, the Rams are very publicly up for sale.

We shouldn't rest easy, but all we can do is mind and take care of our own business. If/when we dodge the LA bullet, it'll then be London, Orlando, San Antonio, or one of the cities who just lost their team.

As for the mayor, there's plenty else he can do. He can make a case to the NFL about reviewing their blackout policy, for at least this season. The city could buy tickets to distribute to staff, the way it used to before Peyton ended the practice. Even buying a small number of tickets would send the right message to corporations who also do this.

The league already is allowing teams some wiggle room concerning blackouts.  I don't think we'll ever see the blackout rule completely removed.

As far as the city buying up seats, I disagree. The city should not be in the business of buying those tickets. It sends the wrong message when hard economic choices have just had to be made.

Additionally, the city released those seats to the Jaguars for resale earlier this year. Previously, the lease required those tickets to be held for the COJ and they went unsold and unused the last 2 seasons.

The Mayor should, however, continue to engage the corporate community to step up as they did last year. Many other teams have strong corporate support keeping them afloat.

And of course he can resolve the stadium improvement issues and rental fees for the stadium.

Wasn't that part of the motivation behind letting the team keep the entirety of the EverBank Field naming rights revenue? 

Again, it's been barely 1.5 days since the lockout was lifted. Give it time.

[Tacachale]

You're definitely right about the other threats we're going to face even if we dodge LA.

As for the city buying tickets to distribute to employees as a perk, this would send exactly the right message. Many companies already do it, UNF does it; it's a great perk and it shows your company is a good local citizen. The city used to purchase a block of tickets beyond the 25 or so that were set aside in the lease deal; Peyton and the council ended the practice as a way of saving a couple thousand bucks. THAT sends the wrong message.

I'm not saying COJ should buy 17 thousand tickets, but buying a small number of tickets themselves would show they're serious when they ask other companies to do the same thing. Of course it's an extra cost in tough times, but it's nothing compared to what losing the team would do to the city.

And the stadium and facilities improvements were a separate issue from the Everbank naming rights deal, and they still need to be resolved.

[blizz01]

Mike Bianchi: Forget Jaguars, maybe Buccaneers should move to L.A.

Just a few days ago, as the babbling blowhards on a national radio show just began debating the topic du jour â€" which current NFL team would be moved to the West Coast now that L.A. has approved the framework for an NFL venue â€" the discussion reached a quick and unusually peaceful culmination.
I'm paraphrasing, but here essentially is how the conversation went:

"The Jacksonville Jaguars are probably already packing the moving vans for L.A.," one of the talking heads concluded.

"No question," said the other. "It's a no-brainer."

Question: When are those of us in the media going to lay off poor, little Jacksonville and the only big-time professional sports team that city will ever have? Why everyone does seemed determined to yank the Jags away from Jacksonville when there's another NFL team in the state with an even more embarrassing recent history of blackouts?

What about the L.A. Buccaneers?

When there is a discussion about moving a team to L.A., why aren't the Tampa Bay Bucs ever brought up? They are located in an area that is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the worst sports cities in America.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg megalopolis is the 14th-biggest market in the country, but does not support two of the most solid franchises in professional sports. The Tampa Bay Rays have proven over the last few years that they are one of the most well-run franchises in Major League Baseball yet the fan base continues to be among the sport's worst.
The fan apathy toward the Bucs is even more baffling because Tampa has always fancied itself as a football town. But I would argue Jacksonville is much more passionate about its perennially mediocre Jags than the Bucs are about one of the hottest young teams in the NFL.
Here's all you need to know about how far the Bucs' popularity has fallen not only in Tampa but throughout Central Florida: As I am writing this column, the Bucs do not even have a radio outlet to broadcast their games in the Orlando market. Radio stations in Orlando used to fight over the Bucs, but now the team has gone through much of the preseason without its games being broadcast in this thriving market.
If you want to accurately compare the Bucs to the Jags then chew on this: The Bucs, who were one of the surprise teams in the league last year with a 10-6 record, were the only franchise in the NFL that blacked out every game. Meanwhile, the Jags, a team the media likes to point to as the dirty-faced posterchild for fan apathy, blacked out none of its games despite being in the nation's 49th-ranked TV market.
The Jags averaged 63,000 fans per game last season; the Bucs had the second-worst attendance in the league at only 49,000 per game. But because there's nothing sexy about Jacksonville â€" the team or the city â€" the Jaguars are an easy target.
The media-bashing started a few years ago when the Jags were forced to cover up seats at their stadium in an attempt to avoid blackouts. Everyone ignored the reason for the tarps â€" because Jacksonville was the smallest market in the league with one of the biggest stadiums (73,000). And the reason it had one of the biggest stadiums was so the city could accommodate the annual Florida-Georgia college football extravaganza.
Another fact everyone ignored: Even with the tarps covering seats, capacity dropped to 67,000 â€" which is still bigger than Raymond James Stadium (65,857) in Tampa.
"The media has a way of regurgitating the same old stuff without doing their homework," says Jaguars great and Jacksonville resident Tony Boselli, one of the key catalysts behind the Jags' successful season-ticket push last offseason. "When you really look at the facts and Jacksonville's entire body of work as an NFL city, it's been a good market."
The fact is, the Jags, Bucs and even the Dolphins have a lot of work to do this season to avoid blackouts. The rotten economy, coupled with the 136-day lockout during a time when fans and corporations traditionally re-up for season tickets, will likely have a devastating effect on attendance throughout the league.
Of course when the inevitable blackouts happen, the nation's media will automatically emasculate the poor, little Jacksonville Jaguars.
In reality, the L.A., er, Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the team everyone should be pointing fingers at. 

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-08-25/sports/os-bianch-nfl-blackouts-tampa-bay-08220110825_1_tampa-bay-bucs-nfl-venue-fans

[Lucasjj]

"The Jags averaged 63,000 fans per game last season..."

I think the local media needs to be screaming that from the rooftops until this gets through to the national media. I don't see how you could make an argument of fan apathy and moving a team while knowing that figure.

[duvaldude08]

IMO our local media is poision. When it something negative about the Jags, the report it then the article circulates around the web. When its something positive, they dont even mention it. For example, instead of highlighting how good our defense was against the Falcons, the headline read " Jags win: Garrad and Gabbert not impressive.". Am I the only one that see's something wrong with that picture?

[BridgeTroll]

UNF now has a "Student Section" at Everbank...

Come out on Thursday, August 25th, from 11am-4pm to purchase your tickets for any of the eight 2011-12 Jaguars regular season home games. Take this opportunity to come out and show your support for UNF SG and The Jacksonville Jaguars while meeting members of the ROAR and Jaxon-De-Ville, the team's mascot. UNF Student Government and The Jacksonville Jaguars have teamed up to create a UNF student section at all Jaguars home games. The seats are located in the 228 section at Everbank Field. Any current student with a valid Osprey1Card may purchase up to two (2) tickets for each game. Tickets are $20 each, cash and credit cards will be accepted. Please refer to the ticket rules and regulations on our homepage for more information.

We only have 2,200 tickets for the entire season! Get them while we still have every game available!

Brought to you by YOUR UNF Student Government

http://forum.jaguars.com/index.php?showtopic=696341

[Tacachale]

^I just commented in the other thread that they sold 1500 of those tickets yesterday alone. This was a smart move by the team.

[BridgeTroll]

I saw that.  I hope the kids do some fun things with an entire section to themselves... huge banners, costumes.  They could do some cool stuff...

[downtownjag]

^I just commented in the other thread that they sold 1500 of those tickets yesterday alone. This was a smart move by the team.

I'm confused, did they essentially sell 1,500 tickets of the ominous 12k or whatever the number is to lift blackouts?

[copperfiend]

^I just commented in the other thread that they sold 1500 of those tickets yesterday alone. This was a smart move by the team.

I'm confused, did they essentially sell 1,500 tickets of the ominous 12k or whatever the number is to lift blackouts?

Sounds like it was 1500 throughout the season but I could be wrong.