J-ville market
The Jacksonville Jaguars are taking the drastic measure of selling half-season ticket packages. Fans have a choice of two blocks of five games. This is a real rarity in the NFL and is a major statement on the weakness of the Jacksonville market. As of about a month ago, estimates were that the team had sold about 35,000 of 50,000 non-premium season-ticket packages. It's simply hard in Florida to duplicate the passion for pro football that exists in the Northeastern's former steel towns. Miami has had blacked out playoff games. The Dolphins have good support overall because the market is so big, but they Dolphin fans are much more front-runners than Buffalo fans. Give Miami a decade like Buffalo has had and the stadium would be half empty. In addition, the spectre of college football is so much bigger. Jacksonville is a college football town. The Florida Gators have the pulse of the community. Go to any Florida sports bar on a Saturday and it's crazy how passionate the fans are. The Gators can score in the fourth quarter to go up, 55-7, over Cupcake U, and the crowd roars like it's a playoff game. Not so for the Jaguars, even though their record of success is pretty good. The big thing the Jags have going for them, I think, is owner Wayne Weaver still is committed to the community. If he ever exits the equation, the franchise would be prime for relocation.
--Mark Gaughan
I went to the bills/jags game the past 2 years and there were alot of bills fans there. there is a parking ramp devoted to the bills fan parking ramp V yeahhhh!!! So dont worry the jags cant sell out even when there doing good let alone when there bad. It was awsome going to the bills game and seeing all the bills fans tailgating and being crazy unlike there fans or lack of. There pregame tailgate is horrible and pretty funny..
Posted by: Brian | July 22, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Jacksonville fans are pretty pathetic. Their team has enjoyed a good amount of success over the years, yet they don't come close to selling out. The Bills have probably the worst owner in the league, a man who refuses to sell the team giving them almost no shot at staying in town after his death, refuses to pay decent money to get a quality head coach, refuses to sell stadium naming rights, and constantly complains about finances, yet the stadium is packed every Sunday. I would say that Bills fans are pretty remarkable...
Posted by: Dave | July 19, 2009 at 05:07 PM
Population growth and fan support mean little in today's NFL. You need corporate sponsorship dollars and suite purchases. In that area, Jacksonville is in the same spot Buffalo is in. They dont have big companies there anymore than WNY. Buffalo needs to tap into the money from other markets around it to maintain viability. Unfortunately, probably too little too late.
Posted by: Chris | July 18, 2009 at 11:51 AM
With the TV contracts that the NFL has, the Bills and any other team could not sell a single ticket and remain profitable.
Posted by: Vandy Adam | July 17, 2009 at 03:36 PM
Abdul,
The Bills do have good fan support, but they also have the cheapest tickets in the league and a difficult time selling out games. Provided the product improves after Ralph's estate sells the team, the ticket prices will rise considerably and if the support remains the team will likely stay for awhile. If the region cannot support the team at average league ticket prices, the owner will move it to maximize his investment.
Posted by: Matt | July 15, 2009 at 10:03 PM
The only time that a pro sports franchise should leave a city is if there is middling fan support. The Jags have suffered this fate for years. Just because a city is not viewed as a big media market should not mean that the teams in that market need to leave. The Bills have tremendous fan support. We should not lose a team because our city is not large.
Posted by: abdul | July 15, 2009 at 01:33 PM
Why does everyone keep referencing population trends? Obviously population is not the only factor or L.A. would still have two teams. L.A. didn't support the teams because people didn't care ... Jax is not much different. Everyone cares FAR more about college football and 20 years from now that won't have changed because all the kids of today are growing up watching Urban Meyer win national titles.
At the same time, we as Bills fans really won't get anywhere pointing out Jax's shortcomings as an NFL town. That stadium could sit empty every game and as long as the owner is OK with how things are they will stay. I think it's just a matter of time before the Bills leave because the next owner is a great unknown and unlikely to be someone committed to Buffalo.
Posted by: John | July 14, 2009 at 09:06 PM
Although having tarped seats and a lower season ticket sales, I still believe the Bills have a better shot at relocating then the Jaguars, and it will most likely be to Los Angeles since the CFL will block a team from permanently moving to Toronto. Jacksonville is projected to increase in population over the next twenty years while Buffalo and Western New York will continue to lose population. After the Bills are sold, the new owner is going to have a heavy mortgage payment that the Bills don't currently have, and as a result the team will be losing money every year in Buffalo, especially as the player salaries continue to escalate and the local economy continuing to lose jobs and people. Also, as pointed out in a Buffalo News article last September, Jacksonville has a young fan base which will only increase over time, and with more and more people moving into Jackonville the next several years it will only help that team. Although Buffalo is much more deserving of a NFL team than Jacksonville, it will lose out in the end due to money.
Posted by: Sean | July 14, 2009 at 04:14 PM
Truth be told, we did that in Buffalo about a decade or so ago...Shout Packs
Posted by: Phil | July 14, 2009 at 03:49 PM
The Jacksonville area has a very good trend in long term population growth.
Probably they got an NFL team too early, but they might be fine 10 years from now when even more NFL fans from northern cities have moved down there.
Posted by: Reality Check | July 14, 2009 at 02:58 PM
Its not just Jacksonville. Detroit is doing the same thing. Half-season tickets. The Lions even offer "mini-packs" where you can pick as few as three games.
Posted by: Bruce78 | July 14, 2009 at 01:31 PM
Joe O.,
Did it last year and a couple of years before that. Throw in a few rounds of golf at one of the many fine courses and stay at the Hyatt in walking distance to the stadium.
Posted by: soupy | July 14, 2009 at 01:24 PM
Why don't Bills' fans road trip to the Bills' game in Jacksonville and show those red necks how to properly tail-gate and cheer for a football team. Get your popcorn read - and send down down some Genny Lights!
Posted by: Joe O. | July 14, 2009 at 12:54 PM
The only issues that the Bills will face down the road is debt service that the new owner will have to pay and the lack of Fortune 500 companies here, other than that, the Bills are above, Jacksonville, Minnesota, and and San Diego in terms of teams with issues.
Posted by: Mark | July 14, 2009 at 11:41 AM
That's a franchise that should be far ahead of Buffalo in terms of targets for relocation. I love the nonsensical rationale offered by their fans, suggesting that the city is on the rise, and to "watch out in 20 years" that was in an article before the Bills-Jags game last season.
The tarped seats are a major embarrassment to the League. That team should be relocated.
Posted by: E | July 14, 2009 at 11:17 AM