The Jaguars - How Jacksonville Became an NFL City

[Steve]

some of the dates in this are also a bit off

1. I assume the Express was 1975, not 1995
2. Memorial Stadium in Baltimore was built in 1950....on the site of a previous stadium from the 20's

Of course the March 29, 1984 date is correct....pretty late in the year for a snowstorm in Bal'mer

btw....great article!

Express date was wrong, Memorial Stadium is actually correct because it was technically a renovation in the 1950's

And Yes, March 29th 1984 is DEFINITELY correct.

[Shwaz]

It's funny to read the boosters at the time basically saying that with the addition of an NFL franchise Jacksonville would more or less instantly become a world-class city.  We see how that's worked out...

It's too bad the powers that be won't put as much time, money and effort into things that really matter as they did into creating a few minimum wage popcorn-selling jobs.

Having an NFL team really matters. The Jaguars bring over $200 million dollars to this city per year.

[ac]

It's funny to read the boosters at the time basically saying that with the addition of an NFL franchise Jacksonville would more or less instantly become a world-class city.  We see how that's worked out...

It's too bad the powers that be won't put as much time, money and effort into things that really matter as they did into creating a few minimum wage popcorn-selling jobs.

One could say the same for the Symphony; yet few are calling for funding to be cut, the TU center to not be maintained to standard, or to "let them leave."

Let's not just chuck out an asset because one doesn't appreciate sports or football.

Oh, and how about 53 guys, among whom the lowest-paid makes around a half-mil, paying property taxes in Jax?  That's not even counting coaches, office execs, and staff?

The millions in donations from the Jaguars Foundation?

The national notoriety?  When's the last time anyone had to add "Florida" when you told someone you were from Jacksonville?

[Shwaz]

Some fans who prefer to sit at home say they can "watch a winner for free," 70 miles west.  Never mind that college football ranking is essentially rigged to favor the more popular programs and their big-money conferences.  Never mind that it punishes playing top talent every week, leading to non-conference games against Troy and Charleston Southern.  The pressure to go undefeated and lay 40-50 on a team to stay competitive for the Championship leads many, many fans of a 9-0 Gators team to anger in victory, where the should be joy.  That spills over to the Jaguars, who are lambasted for beating the awful Rams and Chiefs by only 3 points.

Why can't people be a fan of both?

[Steve]

Some fans who prefer to sit at home say they can "watch a winner for free," 70 miles west.  Never mind that college football ranking is essentially rigged to favor the more popular programs and their big-money conferences.  Never mind that it punishes playing top talent every week, leading to non-conference games against Troy and Charleston Southern.  The pressure to go undefeated and lay 40-50 on a team to stay competitive for the Championship leads many, many fans of a 9-0 Gators team to anger in victory, where the should be joy.  That spills over to the Jaguars, who are lambasted for beating the awful Rams and Chiefs by only 3 points.

Imagine if the Gators had to play a top 25 team every week.

[ac]

Schwaz- That's the 64-thousand-dollar question, isn't it?

Steve-  My point exactly.

[Wacca Pilatka]

The whole "The Jags may be moving" topic is waaaaaaaaaay over hyped.

Guess how many years the Jags have been last in the league in attendance? None. ZERO.

Now all of sudden we may move?

It's just hype from the media...national media mostly.....that want to see a team in LA. Speculation on a team moving to LA generates readers and viewers.

Jags attendance ranking (out of 32 teams):

2008 -19th
2007 -22nd
2006 -19th
2005 -below 16th (league only reported the top 16 before 2005)
2004 -16th
2003 -below 16th
2002 -below 16th
2001 - below16th

From 2001-2003 the Jaguars were never last.

So attendance hasn't been stellar, but certainy nowhere near the worst.

It's all hype.

You're absolutely right, and it's ridiculous and points to a sports media double standard that one season of bad ticket sales in Jacksonville = constant LA move speculation and ridicule, whereas year after year of horrible ticket sales in Cincinnati, Arizona, or Tampa did not lead to the same.

That said, we must be diligent in trying to put an end to this problem quickly.  It is impossible to sustain an NFL team under the current economic model with the ticket sales we're experiencing this year, and it may try even Mr. Weaver's patience, which is substantial.  More significantly, Mr. Weaver is 74 and finding a successor who is willing to keep the team here may prove difficult.  Jacksonville has the ability and the potential to turn this situation around and prove to the world its love for NFL football and capability of sustaining the Jaguars.  Now is the time for the turnaround to start.

[willydenn]

Alliteration aside....how did they pick the name Jaguars?  Seattle Mariners, Pittsburg Steelers, NY Islanders, etc. are legit names for their respective town.  They also have to do something about their hideous uniforms!  The dumped the only good one they had...the all black ones.  Maybe they could do a helmet similar to the Bengals, but obviously use Jaguar spots instead of tiger stripes?

[copperfiend]

It's too bad the powers that be won't put as much time, money and effort into things that really matter as they did into creating a few minimum wage popcorn-selling jobs.

Right. That is the only impact the team has had on the community and the local economy.

[hooplady]

Understood.  Maybe some of us (OK, just 2 so far ) are just a bit sensitive to the spectre of moving trucks in the night, and the message it sends concerning MJ's stance on the future of this team in JAX.

I don't mind confronting the reality of the situation, but I'm not ready to concede yet another failure for the city.

Make that three of us.  I still remember the TV commercial showing a moving van pulling up to an ATM and football players getting out.  The tag line was "need to withdraw money in a hurry?"  Not the best marketing campaign....

Baltimore was emotionally crushed by that incident.  On the other hand, it was the impetus necessary for a great new ballpark and a separate football stadium - clustered at the Inner Harbor and served by light rail.  Perhaps if (when?) we lose the Jags we can re-focus on building projects that will draw people downtown more often than a few Sundays in the fall.

[Steve]

Alliteration aside....how did they pick the name Jaguars?  Seattle Mariners, Pittsburg Steelers, NY Islanders, etc. are legit names for their respective town.  They also have to do something about their hideous uniforms!  The dumped the only good one they had...the all black ones.  Maybe they could do a helmet similar to the Bengals, but obviously use Jaguar spots instead of tiger stripes?

It was a contest held in 1991.  I think that you will find if you look at a list of all team names in professional sports, names like the Steelers, Mariners, Islanders, Mets, are the exception, not the rule.

[Overstreet]

A lot of the popcorn sales men in the stadium are volenteers working for free to allow the money raised to go to the group or charity that runs the stand.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Alliteration aside....how did they pick the name Jaguars?  Seattle Mariners, Pittsburg Steelers, NY Islanders, etc. are legit names for their respective town.  They also have to do something about their hideous uniforms!  The dumped the only good one they had...the all black ones.  Maybe they could do a helmet similar to the Bengals, but obviously use Jaguar spots instead of tiger stripes?

It was a contest held in 1991.  I think that you will find if you look at a list of all team names in professional sports, names like the Steelers, Mariners, Islanders, Mets, are the exception, not the rule.

The other finalists were Sharks, Stingrays, and Panthers.

Touchdown Jacksonville's cited reasons for picking Jaguars were that no U.S. pro sports team used it and that jaguars actually do have a connection to Jacksonville, though not an obvious one.  The Jacksonville Zoo has a long and successful history of jaguar breeding.  Most melanin-deficient black jaguars in U.S. zoos are the offspring of a single long-lived black jaguar at the Jacksonville Zoo.  Also, at the time the team was named, the oldest living jaguar in captivity was a zoo resident.

[ac]

They also have to do something about their hideous uniforms!  The dumped the only good one they had...the all black ones.  Maybe they could do a helmet similar to the Bengals, but obviously use Jaguar spots instead of tiger stripes?

The T-U had an artist do a concept uniform that had spots on a gold helmet, I think back in 2002 or 2003.  It wasn't pretty.  I've been hunting for an image of it, but can't find it.

Edit:  Here it is.


Still want that helmet?

Oh, and the current uniforms are fine.

[Lucasjj]

I work part time at the stadiums on gamedays and I make a lot more than minimum wage. My takehome after taxes is about $22 an hour. There are a lot of well paying jobs up there. I have many friends that have year round jobs at the stadium who make very good salaries.

Plus the tax revenue from sales at the game, as well as the property taxes paid by the players helps this city.