Is Football Viable in Jacksonville??

[Pinkerton Security]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The RVs -- some of them had been lined up for days -- rolled into Lot E of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium at dawn last Wednesday.
More than 80 hours later, The World's Largest Outdoor ****tail Party, a teeming melting pot of red and orange and blue, finally kicked off. The University of Georgia sprinted onto the field with black helmets, but the University of Florida ran the Bulldogs out of the building, 41-17.
The uber-intense annual rivalry was witnessed by 84,604 fanatics and a national audience on CBS. Afterward, the temporary bleachers in the south end zone were removed, and covers were placed over some sections in the upper deck.
On Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=kan) visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=jac), the crowd is likely to be less than half the size of that swirling Florida-Georgia constituency. It will be the league-leading fourth blackout for the Jaguars, who might well complete the season without a home game on local television; the eight blackouts team officials foresee would be one fewer than the entire NFL total in 2008.




http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&page=hotread8/Jacksonville/Main






I really feel like we are much less of an option to move than them, what with these terrible numbers of theirs.

[yordad]

No. Move them.

[Dr. Pepper]

good job jacksonville!!! keep it up! the LA Jags sounds great!

[Joe Fo Sho]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The RVs -- some of them had been lined up for days -- rolled into Lot E of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium at dawn last Wednesday.
More than 80 hours later, The World's Largest Outdoor ****tail Party, a teeming melting pot of red and orange and blue, finally kicked off. The University of Georgia sprinted onto the field with black helmets, but the University of Florida ran the Bulldogs out of the building, 41-17.
The uber-intense annual rivalry was witnessed by 84,604 fanatics and a national audience on CBS. Afterward, the temporary bleachers in the south end zone were removed, and covers were placed over some sections in the upper deck.
On Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=kan) visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=jac), the crowd is likely to be less than half the size of that swirling Florida-Georgia constituency. It will be the league-leading fourth blackout for the Jaguars, who might well complete the season without a home game on local television; the eight blackouts team officials foresee would be one fewer than the entire NFL total in 2008.




http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&page=hotread8/Jacksonville/Main






I really feel like we are much less of an option to move than them, what with these terrible numbers of theirs.


Hahahahaha, classic...

[jamze132]

I still do not understand why **** is forbidden on this site. I can't even say ****pit, ****tail, or **** n' balls...

But I can say dicklicker.

[YardRat]

If you have to cover up seats, you might as well pack you're bags.

[Raptor]

Like I said no worries about L.A. the Jags are destined for there...Toronto on the other hand....

[OpIv37]

unfortunately, someone knew what they were doing on Jax's lease- check this out:

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/122902/jag_11340226.shtml

It's an old article but the facts are still true. It would be extremely difficult for Jax to break that lease.

[Scumbag College]

unfortunately, someone knew what they were doing on Jax's lease- check this out:

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/122902/jag_11340226.shtml

It's an old article but the facts are still true. It would be extremely difficult for Jax to break that lease.


Given enough time, money, and lawyers, I'm sure loopholes can be found to make that thing null and void.

[OpIv37]

Given enough time, money, and lawyers, I'm sure loopholes can be found to make that thing null and void.

very true, but is someone going to go through all that trouble when they could just grab Buffalo without any of those hurdles?


Clearly, the Bills have more support than the Jags at the moment, and if a franchise is going to be moved, Jax would be a more logical choice. But if a new ownership group wants to get a team to LA without paying up the ass to break a lease and cutting a bunch of red tape, suddenly Buffalo becomes the more viable option.

Of course, the reality is that in 5 years, Jacksonville will be playing in LA and Buffalo will be playing in Toronto, so it really doesn't matter.

[Demon]

Jacksonville is so desperate, they may even draft Tim Tebow top 10 no matter who's on the draft board. lol

[Scumbag College]

very true, but is someone going to go through all that trouble when they could just grab Buffalo without any of those hurdles?


Clearly, the Bills have more support than the Jags at the moment, and if a franchise is going to be moved, Jax would be a more logical choice. But if a new ownership group wants to get a team to LA without paying up the ass to break a lease and cutting a bunch of red tape, suddenly Buffalo becomes the more viable option.

Of course, the reality is that in 5 years, Jacksonville will be playing in LA and Buffalo will be playing in Toronto, so it really doesn't matter.

I agree that the legalities and red tape might make Buffalo a more viable team to move to LA, but I don't see the NFL being in Los Angeles for at least around a decade from now.

The state of California is close to being in absolute chaos right now with their financial woes. With Dallas' new gigantic monstrosity possibly being a benchmark of all new stadiums in the NFL, I don't see Gov. Arnold setting aside any state funds for such a project. I also don't see any private investor(s) spending close to a billion dollars without an NFL team there already there to build basically a "spec" stadium.

I honestly don't think we're going to see any NFL relocation in the immediate future just because of the state of the economy.

[zone]

What about the Oakland? They should be the first to jet set over to LA. They are a horrible franchise, and can not sell out games.

A few years back when the Bills played in Oakland for what was their home opener, I was able to walk up to the ticket booth 2 hours before the game and buy 4 tickets on the 50 yard line 3 rows from the field. (My life was threatened several times as well with my Bills jersey on)

Doesn't look like the attendance record is any better this year either.

Stadium capacity is 63,026

Week 1 San Diego (an in-state team and home opener) - 61,940 in attendance
Week 3 vs Denver - 45,602
Week 6 vs Philly - 49,642
Week 7 vs NY Jets - 39,354

The fans do not even deserve a team with those numbers.

[YardRat]

I agree that the legalities and red tape might make Buffalo a more viable team to move to LA, but I don't see the NFL being in Los Angeles for at least around a decade from now.

The state of California is close to being in absolute chaos right now with their financial woes. With Dallas' new gigantic monstrosity possibly being a benchmark of all new stadiums in the NFL, I don't see Gov. Arnold setting aside any state funds for such a project. I also don't see any private investor(s) spending close to a billion dollars without an NFL team there already there to build basically a "spec" stadium.

I honestly don't think we're going to see any NFL relocation in the immediate future just because of the state of the economy.

The Governator has already greased the wheels...

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/13685/

LA will have a team well before 2019.

[tampabay25690]

very true, but is someone going to go through all that trouble when they could just grab Buffalo without any of those hurdles?


Clearly, the Bills have more support than the Jags at the moment, and if a franchise is going to be moved, Jax would be a more logical choice. But if a new ownership group wants to get a team to LA without paying up the ass to break a lease and cutting a bunch of red tape, suddenly Buffalo becomes the more viable option.

Of course, the reality is that in 5 years, Jacksonville will be playing in LA and Buffalo will be playing in Toronto, so it really doesn't matter.

The Bills will always have more support then the JAGS...
There are probably more Bills fans that live in the satate of FLORIDA then there JAGS fans that live in Florida. One thing you always have to remember is there are BILLS fansd everywhere because people leave Western NY everyday and move south..........They will always have the support nation wide.....

FL is such a fair weather state for sports just because how transit it is......

[tampabay25690]

Jacksonville is so desperate, they may even draft Tim Tebow top 10 no matter who's on the draft board. lol

DEMON you are right there if TEBOW is there when JAX picks I think they draft him because they will put a ton of fans in the seats...............

Gainesville is only a hour away from JAX.........

[Jan Reimers]

I still do not understand why **** is forbidden on this site. I can't even say ****pit, ****tail, or **** n' balls...

But I can say dicklicker.
Can we say dickpit or dicktail? How about ****er spaniel? Now that is ridiculous. Someone really needs to review this.

[BillsWin]

The Jacksonville owner already said that he'd love to have Tebow on his team.

[Typ0]

It's so hard for me to grasp how people fail at the simplist of logic. Which team is more likely to relocate:

A team that is NOT FOR SALE.

A team that is being AUCTIONED OFF TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.

I have no idea why it is people think poor stadium attendance is the sole determinant of these things. Wishful thinking I guess.

[Demon]

It's so hard for me to grasp how people fail at the simplist of logic. Which team is more likely to relocate:

A team that is NOT FOR SALE.

A team that is being AUCTIONED OFF TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.

I have no idea why it is people think poor stadium attendance is the sole determinant of these things. Wishful thinking I guess.

Their owner said in the article posted, that drawing 40,000 fans in a 62,000 seater is not viable and can not be successful long term. Sure, the team isn't for sale, but when somebody waves about a billion bucks in front of his face, he'll have to make a quick decision. Sale the team and make a huge profit or keep them and hope their marketing improves and people buy into their team. A team doesn't have to be currently on sale for it to be considered a possible destination for Los Angeles.

[Typ0]

Their owner said in the article posted, that drawing 40,000 fans in a 62,000 seater is not viable and can not be successful long term. Sure, the team isn't for sale, but when somebody waves about a billion bucks in front of his face, he'll have to make a quick decision. Sale the team and make a huge profit or keep them and hope their marketing improves and people buy into their team. A team doesn't have to be currently on sale for it to be considered a possible destination for Los Angeles.


I understand and that's why JAX is on the target list from the people in LA. But like a post earlier pointed out JAX is locked in a contract until almost 2020 that will be very difficult or impossible to exit. Our biggest chance to not land as the team in LA is for Wilson to outlive their getting a team. If he kicks off and the timing is right we are going to be the team. Yes, timing does have a lot to do with these things because of the legality of it. My point is the people that point at JAX empty stadium and think that's some guarantee they will be the team are kinda ignorant of the many things that have to fall into place for this to happen.

[starrymessenger]

Like I said no worries about L.A. the Jags are destined for there...Toronto on the other hand....

Toronto is a pretty good sports town, but it will never be as supportive of a NFL franchise as Buffalo and Western NY. Canada is hockey country and Toronto is the home of the Leafs.
A Toronto team would wind up exactly like the Jags after the initial novelty wore off. That is the main reason why Buffalo fans need not be concerned. The fact that Buffalo has amongst the best fans in football plays conclusively to its advantage. That is a winning hand.
Other reasons include the fact that Toronto does not have and would likely never get approval for a suitable stadium for football. People there figure that Ted Rogers took the taxpayer big time when the baseball stadium was built. Besides, well, Ted Rogers has taken his dirt nap.
There are many football fans in Toronto, but you do not have to move the team there to have their support, especially if doing so alienates the real fan base. Moving the Bills home field to a location more "centrally" located for a regional team, as JK has suggested, well maybe that makes sense.

[Mr. Miyagi]

I still do not understand why **** is forbidden on this site. I can't even say ****pit, ****tail, or **** n' balls...

But I can say dicklicker.
:rofl:

Tell you what. If you legally change your name to **** then we'll unfilter it.