Comments on: Jaguars fans talk about blackout effects on students http://www.unfspinnaker.com/sports/2009/11/04/jaguars-fans-talk-about-blackout-effects-on-students/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jaguars-fans-talk-about-blackout-effects-on-students Official Newspaper of the University of North Florida Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:07:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Pete http://www.unfspinnaker.com/sports/2009/11/04/jaguars-fans-talk-about-blackout-effects-on-students/comment-page-1/#comment-19895 Pete Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:26:51 +0000 http://www.unfspinnaker.com/?p=3034#comment-19895 You know what really grinds my gears? So-called Jaguars fans. Anyone who claims to call themselves a fan of the Jaguars in Jacksonville should quit with the excuses. I am completely sympathetic to those who really do have financial hardships during this rough economy, but the ticket problem has plagued us as early as 1999, perhaps their best season where the Jags went 14-2 and to the AFC Championship game. Yes, the stadium was built to hold around 80,000 seats, but the size was reduced to 60,000 to fit the market size by covering seats. For a city population of more than 800,000, it is embarrassing that we can not fill a 60,000 seat stadium. People talk about the high prices, but we have the second lowest price in the league. The Jaguars and Wayne Weaver have been very generous and does what NO OTHER TEAM offers: sell half-packs and even an option where you get to pick which games you want to attend. They don't sell PSL's (Personal Seat Licenses) where you have to buy the right to buy a seat before you can even buy a ticket, a dirty scheme that other teams employ to increase their revenue. Heck, Wayne Weaver even gave away tickets during the Winn-Dixie promotion and nobody wanted them and for years bought up the rest of the unsold tickets to broadcast games on TV in hopes of generating the fan base. Instead, what he got were fans who took him for granted to get the game on air and were content to lie on their couch to watch the game instead of buying a ticket. The big excuse I hear often is it's hard to go to Jags games because this is traditionally a "college football" town. Right... People point to the sold-out record of the Gators in "The Swamp" but the truth is Florida has fans all around Florida that come to the games, not even mentioning the student body. The Jaguars, on the other hand, only have Jacksonville and the surrounding areas to draw from, this is our team. When we had the ACC Championship game, the stadium was almost empty. Even if this were a college football town, instead of having to choose between the two, why can't we have both? A perfect example is Tennessee. Before the Titans (nee Oilers) came along, that was Volunteer country. Most critics believed that pro football wouldn't survive there. But the Titans are thriving and despite a previous winless record this year, this past Sunday the hapless Titans still drew a reputable crowd and most if not all the tickets were sold. In contrast, Jacksonville was touted to be a football town ready to own an NFL franchise but is now the laughing stock of the League and the country. Wayne Weaver and the Jaguars franchise can't keep running in the red every year and you know what that means. You want to know how the Jaguars can stay in Jacksonville? Buy a ticket. You know what really grinds my gears? So-called Jaguars fans. Anyone who claims to call themselves a fan of the Jaguars in Jacksonville should quit with the excuses. I am completely sympathetic to those who really do have financial hardships during this rough economy, but the ticket problem has plagued us as early as 1999, perhaps their best season where the Jags went 14-2 and to the AFC Championship game. Yes, the stadium was built to hold around 80,000 seats, but the size was reduced to 60,000 to fit the market size by covering seats. For a city population of more than 800,000, it is embarrassing that we can not fill a 60,000 seat stadium. People talk about the high prices, but we have the second lowest price in the league. The Jaguars and Wayne Weaver have been very generous and does what NO OTHER TEAM offers: sell half-packs and even an option where you get to pick which games you want to attend. They don’t sell PSL’s (Personal Seat Licenses) where you have to buy the right to buy a seat before you can even buy a ticket, a dirty scheme that other teams employ to increase their revenue. Heck, Wayne Weaver even gave away tickets during the Winn-Dixie promotion and nobody wanted them and for years bought up the rest of the unsold tickets to broadcast games on TV in hopes of generating the fan base. Instead, what he got were fans who took him for granted to get the game on air and were content to lie on their couch to watch the game instead of buying a ticket.

The big excuse I hear often is it’s hard to go to Jags games because this is traditionally a “college football” town. Right… People point to the sold-out record of the Gators in “The Swamp” but the truth is Florida has fans all around Florida that come to the games, not even mentioning the student body. The Jaguars, on the other hand, only have Jacksonville and the surrounding areas to draw from, this is our team. When we had the ACC Championship game, the stadium was almost empty. Even if this were a college football town, instead of having to choose between the two, why can’t we have both? A perfect example is Tennessee. Before the Titans (nee Oilers) came along, that was Volunteer country. Most critics believed that pro football wouldn’t survive there. But the Titans are thriving and despite a previous winless record this year, this past Sunday the hapless Titans still drew a reputable crowd and most if not all the tickets were sold. In contrast, Jacksonville was touted to be a football town ready to own an NFL franchise but is now the laughing stock of the League and the country. Wayne Weaver and the Jaguars franchise can’t keep running in the red every year and you know what that means. You want to know how the Jaguars can stay in Jacksonville? Buy a ticket.

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