The Jaguars - How Jacksonville Became an NFL City

[Metro Jacksonville]

The Jaguars - How Jacksonville Became an NFL City



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 begins a 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-nov-the-jaguars-how-jacksonville-became-an-nfl-city

[BridgeTroll]

How things have changed in 15 years.

Indeed... 15 years ago Jacksonville accomplished the impossible... 15 years later we seem to be on the cusp of repeating this in the reverse... forfeiture of an NFL team.

[Hurricane]

Sports marketing 101...  When you need ticket sales, you go to all of the large companies and work up SPECIAL deals to get the tickets sold (deep discounts).  Also, try $1 hot dogs and peanuts or beer. 

If it is going to cost $200 for tickets to take the wife and 2 kids to the game, food and drinks should not cost another $150.  In these times, a total of $350 for a 4 hour game to watch a struggling team is a hard sale.  I am a big JAG's fan, but this is the first year I did not renew my season tickets (personal financial reasons). 

I sure hope we keep the team, but the marketing for the team needs to get creative - not just blame the fans for not spending half their paycheck to come to the game.

[BridgeTroll]

^^^

How things have changed in 15 years.

[copperfiend]

They have gone to large companies and do offer those employees discount tickets. Same with the military. One of my friend's is in the Navy and gets end zone tickets for 10 bucks a pop. My brother works at Citigroup and they get discount tickets that include a hot dog, popcorn and soda. I am sure there are plenty of other companies that have the same deal but we just don't know about it.

[tufsu1]

Wow...could you please change that first picture....brings back bad memories from my childhood growing up in Baltimore 

[tufsu1]

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!

[fsujax]

Reading that brought back so many good memories. I was in high school and remember being so excited about getting the Jags. I remember watching the announcement live on Channel 12. It was truly a fun time for Jacksonville. Getting the new stadium and seeing lines of people all out of the doors at JC Penney's across the city for people to buy Jacksonville Jaguar shirts was amazing. Where has the excitement gone? I still believe we have a great stadium. Going to almost all the home games, our stadium is still in great shape and a fun experience.

[ac]

Wow...could you please change that first picture....brings back bad memories from my childhood growing up in Baltimore 

I agree.  Doesn't exactly send the right message.  Why not the one of Wayne Weaver holding up the TU with the headline, "WE DID IT"?

[ac]

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.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Sports marketing 101...  When you need ticket sales, you go to all of the large companies and work up SPECIAL deals to get the tickets sold (deep discounts).  Also, try $1 hot dogs and peanuts or beer. 

If it is going to cost $200 for tickets to take the wife and 2 kids to the game, food and drinks should not cost another $150.  In these times, a total of $350 for a 4 hour game to watch a struggling team is a hard sale.  I am a big JAG's fan, but this is the first year I did not renew my season tickets (personal financial reasons). 

I sure hope we keep the team, but the marketing for the team needs to get creative - not just blame the fans for not spending half their paycheck to come to the game.

I've posted this in several other threads, but the Jaguars are already offering many food and drink specials.  There is a $5 value meal available at every game, and if I recall correctly it's different food items from week to week that fall in this category too (e.g., not always a hot dog, sometimes a Bubba Burger).  Also, when I bought tickets I got two vouchers for a free hot dog, coke, and popcorn.

[Shwaz]

What an exciting time. I remember my parents and all their friends that had relocated south became Jaguar fans over night. Everyone I knew hung up their old team and purchased their season tix.

Why is it so hard to win new Jags fans today?

[finehoe]

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.

[fsu813]

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.

[ac]

What an exciting time. I remember my parents and all their friends that had relocated south became Jaguar fans over night. Everyone I knew hung up their old team and purchased their season tix.

Why is it so hard to win new Jags fans today?

Because the teams that sucked (and people set aside loyalties for) at the time the Jaguars were born aren't so bad in comparison anymore, while the Jaguars have struggled (despite the '05 and '07 playoff appearances) over the last decade?

Average fans (those not in the stadium right now) will support either something new, or a winner.  Jaguars are neither right now, in their eyes.  Never mind the number of rookies starting and contributing to this team, and the fact they are 3-1 at home.

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.
  
Some people still pine for the early days;  there are still people who said we should get Brunell as a back up this offseason.  

Some people are racist toward the players.  They call the players thugs, but the guys who earned the team that rep have been cast off.  Some jackass was on the Jaguars MB this week dropping N-bombs in reference to our QB situation.

It just goes on and on.  The problem is not the team;  it's us.  Until the so-called "fans" wake up and realize it, we'll have to deal with the relocation talk.