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

[blizz01]

LOVE IT!
Jaguars to L.A.? Don't Take It to the EverBank!

Ari Gold is on a mission. As all Entourage fans know, the super-agent portrayed so winningly by Jeremy Piven is this close to a deal that would bring an NFL franchise to Los Angeles -- and would feature real-life players Casey Wasserman and Jeffrey Katzenberg as part of the ownership group.
In the most recent episode, Gold tells a group of moneymen, including San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman: "I want, and everyone in this town wants, an NFL team playing in a brand-new state-of-the-art facility within five years, all right?... Now is the time for L.A. to have an NFL team."
While Left Coasters follow the slow progress of not one, but two proposals for an NFL stadium in downtown L.A., football fans on the other side of the country -- specifically those in Northeast Florida -- are breathing a sigh of relief.
On Tuesday, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver put an end to years of speculation and head-shaking about the lackluster corporate bidding for naming rights atop the former Alltel Stadium. After three years with no partner, the Jags have closed a five-year, $16.6 million dollar deal with the Jacksonville-based EverBank. Under the terms of the agreement, Jaguars Municipal Stadium becomes EverBank Field, a well-run local banking institution gets its name on the national map, and the Jaguars (hopefully) put a stop to the never-ending speculation that the team is looking to pull up stakes and relocate to Los Angeles (or some other, larger city which can presumably fill the stadium in a tough economic climate.)
"EverBank's sponsorship demonstrates its confidence that Jacksonville is a viable NFL market," said Weaver.
Bringing further comfort to Jaguars fans, EverBank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rob Clements told reporters the five-year deal is no one-off, saying, "We have the firm expectation this partnership will continue."
Sorry, Ari. Looks like the Jags aren't trading coasts after all. Perhaps you should get on the phone with Oakland or St. Louis?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-ross/jaguars-to-la-dont-take-i_b_662104.html

[simms3]

^^^Hahaha take that Ari!  I hate your idiotic show, too!

+ 10

[Coolyfett]

Who started this weak ass thread? The ownage in it is too funny!

[David]

^^^Hahaha take that Ari!  I hate your idiotic show, too!

+ 10

Yeah, That show is like sex in the city for men. "Sup Bro!" Hey brahhhhh" *chest bump. fist pound*

Things are looking a lot better for the Jags than they were just a mere 10 months ago (when i started this weakass thread )

2009 was awful. May that year be striken from memory.

[simms3]

Coolyfett: What makes it a "weak ass thread?"  And agreed that 2009 never happened haha!

+ 1 for David

[Coolyfett]

ha ha ha ha ha ha!! La What?

[Coolyfett]

Everbank made it a weak ass thread....so blame then not me ha ha ha ha ha!!

Coolyfett walks away in a teal & black snuggie.....

[stjr]

For once, maybe Jax was "ahead of the curve" on something.  But, now, we are not alone!

Jaguars singled out for tickets woes, but another Florida team is faring worse
Source URL: http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2010-08-26/story/jaguars-singled-out-tickets-woes-another-florida-team

By Vito Stellino

The team has struggled on the field and at the ticket office and is having problems avoiding TV blackouts. The downturn in the Florida economy has taken a toll on ticket sales. The team has slashed ticket prices to some of the lowest in the league and started a series of fan promotions to engage the fans.

Sound familiar?

Surprise! This isn't about the Jaguars.

It is about a Florida team having more problems selling tickets than the Jaguars â€" the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs had a huge waiting list after they won the Super Bowl following the 2002 season, but it has now evaporated.

When the Jaguars play at Tampa Bay on Saturday night in the third preseason game for both teams, Raymond James Stadium isn't likely to be half full. The game will be blacked out in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and in Orlando (but not in Jacksonville).

When the Bucs hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in their preseason home opener last week, they announced they distributed only 41,386 tickets, although the turnstile count might not have reached 30,000.

Unlike the Jaguars, the Bucs haven't announced how many tickets they've sold for the regular season, although one of the team owners, Joel Glazer, said in March that the team's season-ticket base was in the 40,000 range and that the team would probably be blacking out games this year.

They might only sell out two home games this year â€" against Pittsburgh and the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. Steelers fans usually gobble up every available ticket for their road games and New Orleans is both a division foe and the defending champions.

The Bucs have admitted that they avoided blackouts last year by writing a check to the league for the visitors' share of the unsold non-premium tickets (34 percent of face value), but team director of communications Jonathan Grella said that's not a sustainable practice.

The Jaguars did it for the preseason opener last week, but they distributed 62,044 tickets.

The Bucs have been on a roller coaster on the field in recent years, 5-11 in 2004 to 11-5 and back to 4-12 and 9-7 for two years and then 3-13 last year.

Grella also said the economy has ravaged Tampa, which has experienced the country's largest unemployment increase over the last five years.

"It's a perfect storm of economic hard times in conjunction with the on-the-field factor," Grella said.

Grella said the Bucs have reacted by trying to make their practices more spectator-friendly with everything from appearances by cheerleaders and the team mascot to autograph sessions before and after practice.

"It's the difference between somebody over for dinner and telling them to help themselves to the refrigerator," he said.

The Jaguars and Bucs aren't the only team with ticket problems. Grella said the Bucs' opener at Miami wasn't sold out even though the Dolphins lifted the blackout.

And two playoff teams, San Diego and Cincinnati, didn't sell out their preseason openers.

The number of blackouts around the league is increasing. In 2008, nine regular-season games were blacked out, a number that jumped to 22 last year (seven were Jaguars home games).

Another problem for the Bucs, Jaguars and Dolphins (who have had trouble selling out every game over the years): Florida and warm-weather teams - especially ones with nearby beaches - often struggle to sell tickets when they're not winning.

Marc Ganis, the president of Sportscorp Ltd., a sports consulting firm, said Florida took a major hit when the economy collapsed, especially the real estate and banking sectors.

He also said there are too many options in Florida and that Southern California teams tend to have the same problem.

"One of the big reasons is that there is so much else to do," Ganis said. "You can go play golf or tennis or go to the beach or go boating. In Chicago, if you don't go to the Bears game, what are your options? Watch it on TV."

Teams such as Chicago also have a tradition that stretches back almost a century with fans who were taken to games by their fathers and grandfathers.

One thing the Bucs don't face is any speculation that they're a candidate to leave town.

Along with St. Petersburg and Sarasota, Tampa is the 14th-largest TV market in the country and has a state-of-the-art stadium.

By contrast, Jacksonville is the 47th-biggest TV market, and that has raised questions whether the market can support a team.

All this frustrates former Jaguars All-Pro Tony Boselli, who has led the Team Teal ticket selling campaign. He believes the finger is unfairly pointed at Jacksonville at the same time other teams are having ticket-selling problems.

"I don't think it's fair to put Jacksonville in its own category when other cities have the same issues," he said.

Boselli said he thinks the positive reaction to the Team Teal campaign shows that Jacksonville can support a team.

"Look at the response when we have a terrible economy and the team is young and in a rebuilding process. That's why I am so bullish on Jacksonville being an NFL market," he said.

He added, "I don't have my head in the sand and I'm not saying everything is fine. We are a small market and you can't be indifferent."

And he said Jacksonville can't relax its ticket-selling efforts even if it sells enough non premium tickets to lift all the blackouts this year.

"This isn't a one-year thing," he said. "This is a forever proposition."

[Coolyfett]

Looks at big media guys.........crickets churp churp churp.........Ima wear my Jags stuff every weekend this season.

[copperfiend]

Jacksonville gets singled out because we are an easy target. As bad as our attendance was last year (and it was pitiful), we still drew more fans than two other NFL teams.

[02roadking]

The Daily Record today:

• The Jacksonville Jaguars said Thursday they need to sell an average of 6,385 tickets a game, consisting of single tickets and group sales, to lift the blackout. Single game tickets for the 2010 regular season home games go on sale at 9 a.m. tomorrow. But don’t look for single game tickets for the Sept. 12 regular season opener against the Denver Broncos in the general bowl. Fans wanting those are told to consider the Black “Half Pack” (five-game, half-season ticket) or single game seats in the Touchdown Club. Visit www.jaguars.com.

[copperfiend]

The "average" worries me a little in regards to the games against Houston and Oakland later in the year. The games against Denver, Indy, Philly and Tennessee are selling much better and should not be blacked out. But they weigh down the average. So I would not be shocked if the two I mentioned had closer to 10k left.

[duvaldude08]

The Daily Record today:

• The Jacksonville Jaguars said Thursday they need to sell an average of 6,385 tickets a game, consisting of single tickets and group sales, to lift the blackout. Single game tickets for the 2010 regular season home games go on sale at 9 a.m. tomorrow. But don’t look for single game tickets for the Sept. 12 regular season opener against the Denver Broncos in the general bowl. Fans wanting those are told to consider the Black “Half Pack” (five-game, half-season ticket) or single game seats in the Touchdown Club. Visit www.jaguars.com.

Im confused with all these numbers. Wayne weaver stated that we have like 2000 left to avoid blackouts, but, as mentioned, a few games are not looking to good. Im wondering where this 6,385 number is coming from.

FYI- Just a little something for giggles. Tampa is having a temper tandrum because their games are being blacked out. For thier home opener they drew a crowd of a little over 30,000. Which is sad. We had a crowd of 43,000 in mist of a storm. Im curious to see if the national media is going to jump all over tampa like they did us. Tampa local media is, but I wonder if the national media will.

[copperfiend]

The 6k number includes group sales. WW and the Jags set their group sales goal at 8k a game. The figure he gave was strictly single game tickets.

[jandar]

The jaguars had a goal of 8000 group tickets (to businesses, etc).
They took that goal of 8000 away from the number of tickets needed.
They have sold around 4000 group sales, give or take.

There are under 3K season tickets left, but these will go to half pack sets and single game tickets.

The Jaguars have to pay Everbank 100K a game that is blacked out.
http://forum.jaguars.com/index.php?showtopic=687325&hl=everbank

So it makes sense to buy the tickets at 1/3 cost to show the game once there are a certain amount left.