The home opener against the Titans today at 1PM EST was nearly blocked out for lack of ticket sales. The Jaguars managed to get a 24 hour extension from the NFL and than managed to sell most all of the remaining tickets. On Friday September 9 th there was 2,000 tickets still available. In one of my other blogs I decided to do some research on why the Jaguars have trouble selling out Tickets in Jacksonville.
There has been talk that Jacksonville does not have a large enough population to support a NFL team. I personally do not feel this is the case. Even the Buccaneers last year had issues selling out games. There are many other teams that are in similar situations with selling out home games. So you really have to get down to the bottom line of why the Jaguars need Jacksonville and Jacksonville needs the Jaguars.
So here is my theory and top three reasons based on my research why I think the Jaguars have issues with fans and selling tickets.
1) Price of tickets/parking/food and beverages:
The cheapest deal you can get from the Jaguars is to buy season tickets at $330.00 for the year. After that the Jaguars tickets can range from $45.00 to $260.00 each. After asking around and going on several local sports shows and my own I asked the fans what was the major issues and this was the number one reason.
The parking can cost you $20.00 to $40.00. Parking is an adventure in itself for a Jaguar Game. Everbank Field is located off the Saint Johns River over the Arlington Bridge going into downtown Jacksonville. If you can manage to get parking around the stadium you are lucky otherwise you are forced to find parking in the many private lots around the area. Some of these lots are blocks away from the stadium. Than you find yourself walking over the freeway to get to the stadium. Last year there was an accident that lead to a fatality due to this reason. The food and beverage prices are way over the normal amount usually charged for the same products in local stores or restaurants. Also I had a friend who worked as a vendor at the stadium and he was told to change the prices depending on how sold out the stadium was. For an example a six pack of beer ( Budweiser or Coors) runs about $7.00 at a store, while at the stadium a single beer will cost $6.00 to $7.00. The food prices are just as bad.
2) Jaguar fan base:
I have a theory about what I call TRUE FANS. True fans are fans that have followed a sport team through generations of living in the same area or been passed down through family or the community. True fans follow the team in good and bad times, and even if they move away from the area continue to be true fans.
In my theory I compare the Jaguars to the college team Gators. The Florida Gators established in the 1930’s in Florida. They attracted a large number of fans trough the community and this has been the most popular sport in the Jacksonville area. The Jaguars have yet to build this true fan base through the comminute. The military has a large impact on the Jaguars more than the Gators because the Gators have been established longer. Though the NFL does release tickets to the military for live games many of the personnel in the military move from other parts of the United States. So in my theory they may go to a live game for the experience but are not true fans because they have already grown up in a different community or been passed down through family a favorite team. Though they may support the team because they are living here in Florida the fact is the will not be True Jaguar Fans. I moved here from the West coast and I support the Jaguars but my favorite NFL team is the Bears. I believe the influence of military personnel does not allow the Jaguars to build a true fan base. Trust me when I say that the Gators are way more popular than the Jaguars. Just look at the history and all the attention the team got from Tim Tebow. Many fans got very angry at the Jaguars for not picking up the Florida Gator Quarterback.
3)The Jaguar team:
I think the Jaguars often hurt themselves in the fact that people want a winning team.
Some one once said Winning will fix everything. While many of us are taught sportsmanship and that winning is not always everything I think that Jaguar fans have been disappointed to long and in to many ways. The last two years the team blew opportunities to make the playoffs losing games they could have won. The attitude of the team was poor as well and the fans heard many excuses they did not want to hear. At some of the games I attended the fans left in the third quarter or even at halftime because the team was losing so bad at home by that time the fans just got frustrated. The home games might be the most important ones even if the team does not make the playoffs or the super bowl losing at home just sends a bad vive to the fans.
The Bottom Line:
I got a lot of emails, and responses from fans with various reasons of why they do not buy tickets to the home games or why they do not call themselves true Jaguar fans. One thing however that I would suggest to Jacksonville is to think what it would be like without the Jaguars and for the Jaguars to think about what it would be like without Jacksonville. The bottom line is that Everbank field is used in 10 home games, and only used a couple of times outside of football season for other various events. Losing the Jaguars would have an impact on the community in jobs and defiantly kill any chance of building a true fan base. Many of the players would move leaving the community, and what about all the programs and community events the Jaguars sponsor.
The Jaguars need Jacksonville and Jacksonville needs the Jaguars!