The Jaguars - Jacksonville and College Football
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It's one of the most talked about topics at the water cooler - the Jaguars - and their ticket sales woes. Up to this point, the Jaguars have yet to even be close to selling out any of their home games, and most likely will not for the rest of the year. It seems every national media outlet has had at least one writer take a shot at Jacksonville for the lack of ticket sales. Today, Metro Jacksonville continues its seven part series discussing the Jaguars and the Jacksonville Market, and how they compare to other NFL cities.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-dec-the-jaguars-jacksonville-and-college-football
Good information. Let me add a few things, as usual:
I just went to the ACC Championship in Tampa, and Raymond James only seats 65,000. So why did Jacksonville have to build a 79,000 seat stadium? Think about the numbers that the NFL requires be sold. Is it the same for all stadiums, or is it a percentage for a sellout?
Jacksonville is an SEC town through and through. You could put Ole Miss and South Carolina here and it would sellout. When you put Virginia Tech and Boston College here, you might as well put a Pac-10 and Mountain West game here, it won't sellout. The Gator Bowl Association wants sellouts. Why do you think they put Alabama and FSU here? Sellout, could you do the same with Miami and USF, probably not, but USF can sellout Raymond James, while Miami cannot even sellout Pro Player for its home games.
In order to sellout anything, you need a fan base willing to travel and attend the games. The SEC has great fan bases and they would travel from anywhere to attend a game in Jacksonville, which is why the GBA dumped the ACC and added the SEC/Big 10 matchup for next year. Not fair to ACC fans, but football is a game about money and if we can see every dollar recycled through the economy 2 or 3 times, I'm all for it.
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 11, 2009, 10:03:23 AM
Think about the numbers that the NFL requires be sold. Is it the same for all stadiums, or is it a percentage for a sellout?
The NFL requires that all non-premium seats be sold (meaning that club seats, skyboxes, and the terrace suite do not count). In addition, a handful of tickets (like 500) are allocated to the visiting team, which do not count towards the number. Finally, handicapped seating does not count as well. This leaves the Jaguars with a blackout number between 50K and 51K, which is the fourth lowest in the league. The stadium as is (with the covers) is perfectly sized for the market, in my opinion.
QuoteThe stadium as is (with the covers) is perfectly sized for the market, in my opinion.
Perhaps, but the attendance this season would beg to disagree.
As an FYI - the Jaguars are very close to selling out the Colts game next week. Last I heard the team has about 2,000 tickets remaining.
The highest attended game at the stadium has been FSU/Alabama two years ago.
This year, the Gator Bowl sold out in 2 hours, due to Bobby's retirement. They are adding 6K more seats, and expect a bigger crowd than the FSU/Alabama game.
So for an SEC town, FSU will have the 2 highest attendances.
Jags only have Clubs left for the Colts game.
Yes, FSU was/has had 2 of the largest attended games, but I do remember when they were here for a Gator Bowl game a few years back and also the Duke game they had here, were not sellouts. So it takes more than just FSU to sellout the stadium.
mtrain,
Your statement is incorrect. I just checked the website and there are still single seats available in the upper deck (some of the cheaper tickets in the stadium).
Perhaps what you meant to say is that there are no longer groups of 4 or more tickets available except for club seats but that is not what you stated.
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 11, 2009, 10:03:23 AM
Jacksonville is an SEC town through and through. You could put Ole Miss and South Carolina here and it would sellout.
I seriously doubt this. UF football might sellout but few other SEC teams would.
Want more prpoof....the Mighty Gators routinely play basketball games in Jax...last week they played JU and the arena wasn't close to half full!
Jacksonville is a(no words to describe town) remember we(most) don't even support our own downtown or neighborhoods for that matter. How many college football games are played here two? and you have fans from those school filling the stadium not Jax residents. There are no words in the dictionary to describe this place.
there is no value in hating where you live...if you do, its time to move!
Quote from: tufsu1 on December 12, 2009, 09:12:21 AM
there is no value in hating where you live...if you do, its time to move!
thats what I usually tell people.
If I hear, I hate this city/place. I respond, then move. No excuses, move!
QuoteYour statement is incorrect. I just checked the website and there are still single seats available in the upper deck (some of the cheaper tickets in the stadium).
Perhaps you can enlighten us all and tell us the exact website. I called the JAGUAR TICKET OFFICE directly and spoke with them, they said they were out of single game seats, except for Clubs. I even went online, ticketmaster, to try and buy from the team, and no 50 dollar seats are available for the Colts game.
I just tried for 1 this morning, and was told on the Ticketmaster site, "Sorry, no exact matches were found, but other tickets may still be available."
Nice try, but until I see it with me-own eyes, I gotta believe they are sold out.
QuoteWant more prpoof....the Mighty Gators routinely play basketball games in Jax...last week they played JU and the arena wasn't close to half full!
The only time I remember there being ANY buzz over basketball was when the NCAA first round games came to Jax a few years ago. Before then, it was the Gator Bowl Classic that featured 4 teams during the week of the game. Beyond that, it probably costs the city more money to put on basketball in the arena, than it brings in.
A few years back, the TU did a study of which Pro Sports you would rather see in Jax, basketball was dead last.
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 11, 2009, 10:03:23 AM
I just went to the ACC Championship in Tampa, and Raymond James only seats 65,000. So why did Jacksonville have to build a 79,000 seat stadium?
The stadium was built the size it was to accommodate the over 80,000 promised for the Florida-Georgia game contract. If not, Atlanta or a home-away arrangement would be the new home of that rivalry. The current plan gives us the best of both worlds, smaller for the Jags, larger for college as needed.Quote from: mtraininjax on December 12, 2009, 11:39:25 AM
The only time I remember there being ANY buzz over basketball was when the NCAA first round games came to Jax a few years ago.
The old Coliseum used to routinely get 8 to 10,000 sellouts for JU home games in the Artis Gilmore days (1970 +/-) and Jax was less than half the size it is now. What is missing is a great match up between competitive teams. The NCAA games gave us some of that. Who wants to pay top dollar for even a good/great team to walk over a patsy? This applies to all sports. In times like this, when the economy is bad, people demand even more value for their dollar.
Quote from: tufsu1 on December 11, 2009, 09:30:22 PM
Quote from: mtraininjax on December 11, 2009, 10:03:23 AM
Jacksonville is an SEC town through and through. You could put Ole Miss and South Carolina here and it would sellout.
I seriously doubt this. UF football might sellout but few other SEC teams would.
Want more prpoof....the Mighty Gators routinely play basketball games in Jax...last week they played JU and the arena wasn't close to half full!
I believe he is right but I don't think it because Jacksonville is an SEC town. I think it is because SEC schools have bigger alumni bases than ACC or Big East schools are they travel to games. As an example, if Ole Miss played Wisconsin in the Gator Bowl, the majority of those attending would be fans of either school. This has no bearing on Jacksonville. The Capital One Bowl in Orlando doesn't sell out every year because Orlando is an SEC town. It is because it offers an attractive matchup of schools with large fan bases.
I disagree, I think SEC schools would sell better because the South has college football as its national pastime, where as the North has always revolved around the NFL. I believe Atlanta was the first NFL team in the deep south, late 60s (?). While Atlanta has grown, the Falcons were miserable for so many years and even this year, in Mike Smith's 2nd year, have not been able to sellout the GA Dome for some games. But they could for the Chick-Fil-A kickoff, SEC Championship and Peach bowl.
You bring 2 SEC schools together at the Gator Bowl, for a home game for one of them, the schools will leave richer and the city will benefit as well. After all, the sport is all about Money.
Are Atlanta residents buying tickets for those games or are fans of the teams playing. In September, the Ga Dome was packed for the Va Tech/Bama game. Most people at the game travelled from outside the area.
In a town of more than 2 million, and if you read the sports papers for the local clubs that hold sport watching parties, you have to believe that there are just a few local fans of sports in Atlanta.
I don't doubt that there are. But SEC schools sell out no matter where they play. But a pro sports team based in Atlanta is reliant on locals buying tickets. Bowl games and neutral site games are mostly attended by fans travelling from outside the market.
no...some SEC schools always sell out...in football, Miss. State, Vandy and Kentucky do not.
I should have said SEC schools that actually make bowl games. But you get the point. Selling out the Georgia/Florida game and a bowl game with an SEC school doesn't make Jacksonville an "SEC town".
If you use TV ratings, rather than game attendance, as a barometer of interest by locals, the NFL has traditionally outdrawn college games, even the Gators, with few exceptions. This would indicate that the NFL has more fan interest than college unless the Gators or Noles are competing for the national championship. It makes sense, too. Everyone in Jax is a local resident, and thus potential Jag fan, but only a limited percentage, while significant, are alums or hangers-on to the Gators or Noles.