First, I want to see this is not a blackout thread so please don't take it there. This is geared towards the tarps in particular. Do you think WW did more harm than help by putting up the tarps? When I look back at things now, I keep thinking " What the hell was he doing??????" Not only did he put up tarps, but we let Winn dixie hoard tickets and give them away. In hind sight, that was really stupid. Instead of him approaching the situation saying, " Okay we have to fix this problem, we have to sell more tickets" , he resorted to making the problem go away, and it didn't. It only got worse. Its like he waited until we were in crisis mode to start thinking outside of the box. IMO, he should have done what Khan is doing now. He should have brought in some people to help market this team and sell tickets. Our team should be regional after almost 20 years, and its not. Its like he wanted us to stay cooped up in Jacksonville with absolutely no exposure. That also contribute to the other owners in the league taking Jacksonville as a joke. As much as I love WW and appreciated everything he has done, he was extremely passive, too country and laid back, and just flat out did not have a vision for the franchise. Its like he let the franchise run itself into mediocrity and he was okay with that. I think part of the reason he sold team because he realized that he kinda screwed things up, and he know we deserved better. I actually respect him for admitting the mistakes he made and staying committed to our city as he promised.
Any thoughts?
I think Weaver was the team owner and could do as he pleased...that said, I believe he had the best interests of the team (his investment) and the community in mind.
I think there certainly is some truth to the "mailing it in" thinking. From 2000 on, the franchise was stagnant with ideas. It actually began to take the fan base for granted and it showed. It wasn't until very recently that, like you said, panic set in and a flurry of moves were made.
The Winn-Dixie give away was a colossal failure, but not unthinkable. Heck, check the comments of any Jaguar article to see someone suggest giving away the tickets in the tarp section. It was just not thought out right, and another sign of taking the fanbase for granted. "I have to pay for my season tickets, but you're going to give them to people for free at Winn Dixie"?
As for the tarps, that's not on Wayne. That's on 1 game, FL v GA. There is no amount of branding, or regional fan base building that would see sellout crowds of the 4th largest stadium in the NFL. You just won't see that. The stadium needed to be built so that it could expand for capacity, not shrink for it.
I applaud WW for bringing the Jags to Jax.
That being said, his discount shoe mentality is the reason why we're the discount shoe of the NFL.
What else was he supposed to do? Our stadium is held hostage by one game a year. It had to be built that large, larger than Chicago's stadium. Even with the tarps on, our 67 k still is more than Chicago's stadium. I feel bad for Kahn trying to figure out what to do, knowing that there needs to be a way to get the seating up to 76k once a year.
IMO, I think you are all mostly right, just in the wrong order. Let me fix it.
Quote from: tufsu1 on July 10, 2012, 02:27:24 PM
I believe he had the best interests of the team (his investment) and the community in mind.
but...
Quote from: RockStar on July 10, 2012, 02:43:10 PM
his discount shoe mentality is the reason why we're the discount shoe of the NFL.
Quote from: RockStar on July 10, 2012, 02:43:10 PM
That being said,
Quote from: Bridges on July 10, 2012, 02:33:00 PM
There is no amount of branding, or regional fan base building that would see sellout crowds of the 4th largest stadium in the NFL. You just won't see that.
Interesting, strong opinions, DD....
I think Wayne Weaver's biggest "failing"--if you wanna call it that--is that he seems to be a people-pleaser. As we've learned over the years, the locals are never without several demands in order to be made happy, and several times, Weaver listened and acted on those demands. Escalators and cup holders are the ones that I know of...somebody probably told him to try giving away tickets and he caved reluctantly.
He didn't wanna fire Coughlin, he didn't wanna fire Del Rio; he doesn't seem to like doing unpleasant things because he's that good of a dude. I'm not sure he would have fired Tom were it not for the public outcry, despite the salary cap issues while he GM'ed. When he kept Jack on for another season, he held a press conference to explain himself--which he didn't need to do, but clearly felt he had to do. I think the tarps were always meant to be temporary; I think he believed that we could remove tarps section by section, until the stadium was full like it was in the Old Days.
The FL-GA game makes for a unique situation that, I don't think any other NFL city and team have to deal with. As for it making Jacksonville a joke--that mentality was already in the making, and this just made for a convenient affirmation of prejudice that was already there. 90% of the people that think this is a backwoods/hick town aren't looking to change their minds. Other, more established teams have been stuck in neutral for years, but since it's us now, we suck as a fanbase and as an NFL city...and the Jags are DEFINITELY moving to L.A.
"Nobody packs the U-Hauls like Duval."
----Warren Sapp
Quote from: kells904 on July 10, 2012, 03:06:52 PM
"Nobody packs the U-Hauls like Duval."
----Warren Sapp
I bet Sapp has changed his mind now that he's seen the bank pack his shit into U-hauls for him. ;D
Weaver knew from the get-go that the stadium was too big, and he wanted a smaller seating capacity. There should be more Jag fans outspoken about that stupid college game. Does everyone in charge have the balls to say '67,000 take it or leave it' to the cocktail party? No, they wanna have Cindy L. run one of the few things that keeps Jax progressive out of town. The phrases hicktown, GOB network, and FL GA game all goes hand and hand. Everytime I see that stupid gatorhead logo on a license plate, I think of something that sets Jacksonville back forty years in the past.
Quote from: Non-RedNeck Westsider on July 10, 2012, 03:08:52 PM
Quote from: kells904 on July 10, 2012, 03:06:52 PM
"Nobody packs the U-Hauls like Duval."
----Warren Sapp
I bet Sapp has changed his mind now that he's seen the bank pack his shit into U-hauls for him. ;D
Isn't it SO stupid for him to say that? He played in freaking Tampa Bay, that speaks for itself. He was good as a player, but he SUCKS as a person. Nobody likes him anyway, f*ck him!!!
All great insight!! I just wanted to see what everyone else was thinking. I know WW had good intentions, but the approach was all wrong. I also think he was trying to do it all on his own and it was a burden. Khan on the other hand, has hired all the right people and put them in the right places. Tarps should have been the LAST resort IMO. Not the first option. I think there was series of things from 2004-2009 made us look really bad and we still trying to recover from it.
No, he did not screw us with the tarps. The tarps saved us from even more blackouts, which would have been even worse.
The Weaver Jags were victims of their own early success. They were a brand new team at an exiting time in their city, and they got very good very fast. This resulted in a full stadium even with with its huge size, unprecedented number of luxury seats, and high ticket prices. Clearly there was a failure to adapt when things changed as we've been seeing for the last 12 years.
But really, it's not all on Weaver. Notably, the NFL's regressive and arbitrary blackout policy hit us and our large stadium hard. Additionally, more and more teams have swung new or renovated stadiums, with more and more club seats, which makes our not-old-by-any-reasonable-standard stadium one of the older in the league. Additionally, as gimmicky luxury seats become an increasingly significant revenue source for teams, it disadvantages smaller cities like Jacksonville compared to big metro areas with more corporate money.
My opinions:
1) With the tarps, as I'm glad many in this community realize, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. A market this size, with little regional support, simply cannot fill a 76,000 seat stadium. That fact has nothing to do at all with a lack of support from Jacksonville, or deficiencies with the Jaguars fan base. Our attendance averages the last two seasons are incredible for our market, and at the very top of the league in per capita support. I can't remember who, but someone here very accurately described the tarped over seats as "low hanging fruit" for the national media to jump on, but personally, I barely even notice the tarps when I'm there. It's not a perfect solution, and I really like the idea of reducing stadium capacity via movable fixtures that could be taken out for college football, but all things considered, I think we do a pretty good job of serving both the NFL and college football in the city.
2) The Winn Dixie thing was, without question, the stupidest decision the franchise ever made. It cheapened the perceived value of Jags tickets for years.
Quote from: KenFSU on July 10, 2012, 04:11:43 PM
My opinions:
1) With the tarps, as I'm glad many in this community realize, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. A market this size, with little regional support, simply cannot fill a 76,000 seat stadium. That fact has nothing to do at all with a lack of support from Jacksonville, or deficiencies with the Jaguars fan base. Our attendance averages the last two seasons are incredible for our market, and at the very top of the league in per capita support. I can't remember who, but someone here very accurately described the tarped over seats as "low hanging fruit" for the national media to jump on, but personally, I barely even notice the tarps when I'm there. It's not a perfect solution, and I really like the idea of reducing stadium capacity via movable fixtures that could be taken out for college football, but all things considered, I think we do a pretty good job of serving both the NFL and college football in the city.
2) The Winn Dixie thing was, without question, the stupidest decision the franchise ever made. It cheapened the perceived value of Jags tickets for years.
I just wish he would have tried to sell tickets instead of coping out with the tarps and the massive ticket giveaways. I feel like we didnt even try we just said " Oh well cover the seats up and give out tickets and hopefully they will come back." We did absoultely nothing marketing wise until 2010, after the great collapse of 2009. But I also dont mind the tarps. I just wish they were clustered in one section and not spread out over the entire stadium. If they were just clustered in one spot, they would barely be noticable. As it stands, on TV it looks like gaping holes are over the stadium.
I don't mind the tarps. I mind the flack we get for them and I mind the NFL's pointless blackout enforcement that makes them necessary.
Seriously, who cares what percentage of a stadium is sold? It you should require a set minimum of tickets sold, or you shouldn't have a blackout rule to begin with.
Agree about the FL/GA game. To build the stadium too large just to accommodate that one game seems silly now. But then they didn't know how the NFL team would work out, and FL/GA is a big event and money maker for Jax. Even when they said Jax got the NFL team, the naysayers were already saying we couldn't keep it, and how many years now have we heard the team is supposedly leaving? Just about since they got here. So maybe the City was hedging it's bets on the stadium.
Were the Jags were trying to force up the average ticket prices? We used to sit in the Family Fun Zone, now covered by tarps. Our tickets were $200 a year. And when they discounted them in year 5 or 6, we were in the top 4 rows, and they went to $100 a year. OK, that's maybe too cheap. But the cheapest seats I can find now are $350 a year, which is $35 a game, without parking, shuttle or refreshments. I think many average families find it hard to afford that. Take the tarps off and bring back the Family Fun Zone at $200. Even if you sold them at $100 a season, you'd make more than covering them up. But then, isn't the blackout rule contingent on some % of premium seats? Maybe that's why they covered up the cheap seats. To make it easier to hit that percentage of premium seats.
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 10, 2012, 11:54:40 PM
Agree about the FL/GA game. To build the stadium too large just to accommodate that one game seems silly now. But then they didn't know how the NFL team would work out, and FL/GA is a big event and money maker for Jax. Even when they said Jax got the NFL team, the naysayers were already saying we couldn't keep it, and how many years now have we heard the team is supposedly leaving? Just about since they got here. So maybe the City was hedging it's bets on the stadium.
Were the Jags were trying to force up the average ticket prices? We used to sit in the Family Fun Zone, now covered by tarps. Our tickets were $200 a year. And when they discounted them in year 5 or 6, we were in the top 4 rows, and they went to $100 a year. OK, that's maybe too cheap. But the cheapest seats I can find now are $350 a year, which is $35 a game, without parking, shuttle or refreshments. I think many average families find it hard to afford that. Take the tarps off and bring back the Family Fun Zone at $200. Even if you sold them at $100 a season, you'd make more than covering them up. But then, isn't the blackout rule contingent on some % of premium seats? Maybe that's why they covered up the cheap seats. To make it easier to hit that percentage of premium seats.
As far as the stadium, I they had to no choice but to accommodate the game. It has been pretty much a tradition here for decades and we were already about to lose the game because of the conditions of the gator bowl. I wonder, have they approached the FL/GA about reducing the capcity and got their thoughts on it? If we rip out 10,000 seats and add 10,000 additional temporary seating for the game, I don't see what the problem would be. I don't think anyone has ever approached them about it. They DONT own the city nor the stadium.
And there us still a family zone, I cant remember exactly what section it is though. And now childrens tickets are half off.
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 10, 2012, 11:54:40 PM
But the cheapest seats I can find now are $350 a year, which is $35 a game, without parking, shuttle or refreshments. I think many average families find it hard to afford that. Take the tarps off and bring back the Family Fun Zone at $200. Even if you sold them at $100 a season, you'd make more than covering them up. But then, isn't the blackout rule contingent on some % of premium seats? Maybe that's why they covered up the cheap seats. To make it easier to hit that percentage of premium seats.
Blackout rules are based on general bowl seating. That is all seating excluding luxury boxes, terrace suite, and club seats. In that regard, Jacksonville actually has a very small and marketable size for the blackout seating limits. They covered those sections to reduce the general bowl size. We take a lot of heat for the "sellout" number, but that includes club seats and is different than the "blackout" number. The premium seats are a double edged sword. The size of the sections helped us get the team and premium seats are where the team makes (or should make) a lot of it's ticket revenue. I believe premium seat revenue isn't shared, although I might be wrong. However, they cause us no to be able to "sellout" and are seated right in the camera frame for TV so everyone sees those empty seats.
I understand that ticket prices seem high, but they are in line (in fact a little below the average) for NFL ticket prices. I'm sorry to say it, but if we can't afford to hang with the rest of the NFL in ticket price, then it's only a matter of time before they look to relocate. We have to be able to reach certain payroll limits and that requires that the product is sold at a certain level.
As for the family fun zone and selling the tarped seats at a discount, I think this is a big no no. Imagine sitting right next to the section and paying $35 for your season tickets and the guy next to you paid $10. If you opened up the tarps for this kind of deal, I think you'd see more people just moving sections than new people coming in.
"Screw us" is pretty strong. I will say though, they were a bad idea and a black eye for the team and the city. I have a feeling that if he had someone like Mark Lamping working for him at the time that I doubt we'd have those ugly things. But where Khan has Lamping running the business side of the team, Weaver seemed to do that by himself.
Well, when they did have the Family Fun Zone, that's exactly what happened, Bridges. And that's because it was in the corner of the stadium. Our section was 447, top tier, visitor's side. I actually loved it, because it was above what is now the Bud Zone, so we always got a river breeze, nice in Aug/Sept when the lower seats were in the triple digits and people were getting heat strokes.
I didn't think the seats were bad. I don't think there's a bad seat there anywhere. But we were actually behind the goal line, way up in the corner. (Still, I could read the player's jersey numbers.) And...no alcohol sales, and no cursing allowed. So the people in the next section over who were drinking 10-12 beers a game and screaming curse words at the players didn't want our cheap seats anyway! LOL
I think it was a great way to make an NFL game affordable for everyone, and I'm sorry they did away with it. The single game ticket price was still $40, so the cheap-seat benefit was only to season ticket holders. And that encouraged season ticket holders for people of modest means.
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 11, 2012, 12:15:28 PM
Well, when they did have the Family Fun Zone, that's exactly what happened, Bridges. And that's because it was in the corner of the stadium. Our section was 447, top tier, visitor's side. I actually loved it, because it was above what is now the Bud Zone, so we always got a river breeze, nice in Aug/Sept when the lower seats were in the triple digits and people were getting heat strokes.
I didn't think the seats were bad. I don't think there's a bad seat there anywhere. But we were actually behind the goal line, way up in the corner. (Still, I could read the player's jersey numbers.) And...no alcohol sales, and no cursing allowed. So the people in the next section over who were drinking 10-12 beers a game and screaming curse words at the players didn't want our cheap seats anyway! LOL
I think it was a great way to make an NFL game affordable for everyone, and I'm sorry they did away with it. The single game ticket price was still $40, so the cheap-seat benefit was only to season ticket holders. And that encouraged season ticket holders for people of modest means.
Debbie they still have the family fun zone. Its in the 200's near the goal post.
Quote from: duvaldude08 on July 11, 2012, 12:06:14 AM
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 10, 2012, 11:54:40 PM
Agree about the FL/GA game. To build the stadium too large just to accommodate that one game seems silly now. But then they didn't know how the NFL team would work out, and FL/GA is a big event and money maker for Jax. Even when they said Jax got the NFL team, the naysayers were already saying we couldn't keep it, and how many years now have we heard the team is supposedly leaving? Just about since they got here. So maybe the City was hedging it's bets on the stadium.
Were the Jags were trying to force up the average ticket prices? We used to sit in the Family Fun Zone, now covered by tarps. Our tickets were $200 a year. And when they discounted them in year 5 or 6, we were in the top 4 rows, and they went to $100 a year. OK, that's maybe too cheap. But the cheapest seats I can find now are $350 a year, which is $35 a game, without parking, shuttle or refreshments. I think many average families find it hard to afford that. Take the tarps off and bring back the Family Fun Zone at $200. Even if you sold them at $100 a season, you'd make more than covering them up. But then, isn't the blackout rule contingent on some % of premium seats? Maybe that's why they covered up the cheap seats. To make it easier to hit that percentage of premium seats.
As far as the stadium, I they had to no choice but to accommodate the game. It has been pretty much a tradition here for decades and we were already about to lose the game because of the conditions of the gator bowl. I wonder, have they approached the FL/GA about reducing the capcity and got their thoughts on it? If we rip out 10,000 seats and add 10,000 additional temporary seating for the game, I don't see what the problem would be. I don't think anyone has ever approached them about it. They DONT own the city nor the stadium.
And there us still a family zone, I cant remember exactly what section it is though. And now childrens tickets are half off.
Here's the rub on that: if we didn't have the seats for FL-GA, we'd lose the game. And that one is a pure money maker for the city and local business alike.
Before we built the current incarnation of the stadium, we nearly lost FL-GA to the Citrus Bowl. We very likely would have lost it if we hadn't done the rebuild (though I think we would have done a rebuild even if we hadn't gotten the Jags, though not so extensive). Even since that time, nearly every year some interests at Georgia talk about dropping Jax. In trying to blame their recent losing record on the fact the game is played here, they've openly discussed moving the game to the campuses, or adding Atlanta's smaller, crappy stadium to the schedule. The primary reason the game is kept here is due to the size and quality of the 'Bank which means all involved make more money than they would elsewhere.
The best solution to the predicament would be for the NFL to drop the silly rule that ties blackouts to percentage of tickets rather than tickets sold (we've never hit league bottom in tickets sold, even in 2009; who cares about the percentage of the stadium sold out?) The other extreme would be erecting a smaller stadium that would be expandable to accommodate FL-GA (or losing the game). For the time being, though, the most doable solution is to work with what we've got in terms of pricing, marketing, and smaller-scale refurbishing.
Saw where the NFL has gone to 85% sold instead of sold out for the 2012 season.
Also, I understand they already add extra seating to the stadium for FL/GA. Unless the Bud Zone took that space. They used to bring in extra bleachers in our already huge stadium for that weekend. :-)
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 11, 2012, 12:46:08 PM
Saw where the NFL has gone to 85% sold instead of sold out for the 2012 season.
Also, I understand they already add extra seating to the stadium for FL/GA. Unless the Bud Zone took that space. They used to bring in extra bleachers in our already huge stadium for that weekend. :-)
Yes, they do that. In a smaller stadium they'd have to add considerably more seats.
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on July 11, 2012, 12:46:08 PM
Saw where the NFL has gone to 85% sold instead of sold out for the 2012 season.
Also, I understand they already add extra seating to the stadium for FL/GA. Unless the Bud Zone took that space. They used to bring in extra bleachers in our already huge stadium for that weekend. :-)
An option of up to 85% - each team gets to choose. The teams get penalized, finacially, if they sell more tickets than their threshold.
Ex: The Bills set their B/O at 90% - every seat over the 90% they
lose money don't make as much money. Something to the tune of $.16/dollar - that money then gets shared with the rest of the league that didn't exceed their threshold or didn't apply it at all.
The Colts owner, Jim Irsay, has already come out and said they would not be reducing the number. I don't believe that the Jags will either. The team still has the option to buy their own tickets to meet the B/O number if it's close.
I don't think we'll have a problem lifting B/Os this year. 8)
Whatever stadium we have, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what we had with the aluminum seats in the old Gator Bowl.
If Wayne really wanted to "screw us", he could have sold the team for a hell of a lot more and let 'em "load up the U-hauls" as Sapp so eloquently put it, and move to that blessed football mecca they call LA. You know, that place that can't seem to hang on to a team? I just find it odd that the perception is that Jacksonville doesn't support the Jaguars. That we are just a "college town" that "tricked" the NFL into giving Wayne Weaver a franchise. The reality is that attendance is an issue across the entire league, and has been for the better part of the last decade. The average family has been priced out of the game day experience. And with the vast improvements in televised games with HD, Redzone, Sunday ticket, etc.. many people are choosing to stay at home. Someone at NFL headquarters FINALLY figured that out, and that is the reason they have "modified" the blackout rules. It's easy for the media to poke fun at the Jaguars, but when the "Palace in Dallas" or the "Rusty Razor" are having attendance issues, suddenly it's a matter of dire importance. The Jags will be fine. I feel fairly confident that a businessman like Shad Khan did not buy this team and bring in the staff that he did just to see it fail, or to pack up and move.
Quote from: mtraininjax on July 11, 2012, 11:14:40 PM
Whatever stadium we have, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what we had with the aluminum seats in the old Gator Bowl.
That's why I never understood why anyone would call it 'Gator Bowl'. That concrete based stadium opened as 'Jacksonville Municipal Stadium' not the 'Gator Bowl'. The people that do call it that set us back twenty years. BTW, no one I know call it 'Gator Bowl', so it's overrated saying 'many people still call it that". Here's the Gator Bowl just in case anyone is confused, it looks nothing like Everbank, even with that little piece of West upper deck superstructure (not an original part of the stadium that was built in the 80's) that was saved.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gator_Bowl_Stadium
It was my understanding that it was never called the Gator Bowl. That was just the name of the Bowl game held there for many many years.
Quote from: Dapperdan on July 12, 2012, 09:00:48 AM
It was my understanding that it was never called the Gator Bowl. That was just the name of the Bowl game held there for many many years.
Fairfield Stadium was built in 1925 (erroneously reported almost everywhere as 1928). The first Gator Bowl was held in 1946, when Fairfield's capacity was still under 8,000. Fairfield was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and it was at this time that the stadium was officially renamed the Gator Bowl. The name stood until the city was awarded the Jaguars and the rebuilding efforts began. The new stadium was named Jacksonville Municipal Stadium until naming rights could be purchased. There was a loud outcry from a segment of the local population who wanted the stadium to remain known as the Gator Bowl, a situation that the Jaguars (understandably) found absurd. An even larger segment of the population wasn't happy with the Alltel deal, insisting that the word "Jacksonville" remain in the stadium name. I believe the city council even discussed buying naming rights themselves so the city's name remained on the stadium.
As for people still calling it the Gator Bowl, I've got no problem with that. Even as a card carrying Gator hater, I don't think people fully understand just how deep the Gator football tradition runs in this city. When the Jaguars arrived, the Gators had already been playing football in this city for 94 years, Florida-Georgia was going on nearly 70 years, and the Gator Bowl game itself had enjoyed five decades of success. Without Florida football, there would have been no Gator Bowl stadium. And without the Gator Bowl stadium, there would have absolutely been no Jacksonville Jaguars.
Seems goofy to me when people get angry and petty over the Gators fandom in this city, as if it's an affront to the Jaguars, when really, it's one of the city's most important and longest-standing cultural traditions.
Quote from: I-10east on July 12, 2012, 07:10:35 AM
Quote from: mtraininjax on July 11, 2012, 11:14:40 PM
Whatever stadium we have, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what we had with the aluminum seats in the old Gator Bowl.
That's why I never understood why anyone would call it 'Gator Bowl'. That concrete based stadium opened as 'Jacksonville Municipal Stadium' not the 'Gator Bowl'. The people that do call it that set us back twenty years. BTW, no one I know call it 'Gator Bowl', so it's overrated saying 'many people still call it that". Here's the Gator Bowl just in case anyone is confused, it looks nothing like Everbank, even with that little piece of West upper deck superstructure (not an original part of the stadium that was built in the 80's) that was saved.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gator_Bowl_Stadium
Most people called it the Gator Bowl. They have been calling it that for 20+ years. Growing up, my parents called it the Gator Bowl. (Im 30). I dont think it necessary "set us back". For a very very long time, Jacksonville was a college town, so Im not shocked people started calling it the Gator Bowl.
Quote from: KenFSU on July 12, 2012, 10:10:46 AM
Quote from: Dapperdan on July 12, 2012, 09:00:48 AM
It was my understanding that it was never called the Gator Bowl. That was just the name of the Bowl game held there for many many years.
Fairfield Stadium was built in 1925 (erroneously reported almost everywhere as 1928). The first Gator Bowl was held in 1946, when Fairfield's capacity was still under 8,000. Fairfield was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and it was at this time that the stadium was officially renamed the Gator Bowl. The name stood until the city was awarded the Jaguars and the rebuilding efforts began. The new stadium was named Jacksonville Municipal Stadium until naming rights could be purchased. There was a loud outcry from a segment of the local population who wanted the stadium to remain known as the Gator Bowl, a situation that the Jaguars (understandably) found absurd. An even larger segment of the population wasn't happy with the Alltel deal, insisting that the word "Jacksonville" remain in the stadium name. I believe the city council even discussed buying naming rights themselves so the city's name remained on the stadium.
As for people still calling it the Gator Bowl, I've got no problem with that. Even as a card carrying Gator hater, I don't think people fully understand just how deep the Gator football tradition runs in this city. When the Jaguars arrived, the Gators had already been playing football in this city for 94 years, Florida-Georgia was going on nearly 70 years, and the Gator Bowl game itself had enjoyed five decades of success. Without Florida football, there would have been no Gator Bowl stadium. And without the Gator Bowl stadium, there would have absolutely been no Jacksonville Jaguars.
Seems goofy to me when people get angry and petty over the Gators fandom in this city, as if it's an affront to the Jaguars, when really, it's one of the city's most important and longest-standing cultural traditions.
You are right Ken. For example, I think it sucks we are held hostage with the stadium issue because of FL/GA, but as you stated, those games have been a deep rooted tradition in this city for almost 100 years. So I do understand them accomdating the FL/GA association with the capcity. Tradition wise, the Jaguars have a long road ahead. Were only at 17 years. I think around 30-35 years, with more and more generation of Jags fans coming up, we will start to see a balance between the Jaguar vs Gator hatred. lol