Small crowds, blackouts cloud future (Football in Jacksonville in doubt)

[charlie and algernon]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The RVs -- some of them had been lined up for days -- rolled into Lot E of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium at dawn on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

More than 80 hours later, The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail 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 visit the Jacksonville Jaguars, 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


Question: Do you still see a football franchise in Jacksonville in 5 years?

[Auggie]

1. L.A. wants a team. And the NFL should be more than happy to oblige.

[hughee99]

2. The NFL, for the moment, seems happy to keep LA vacant...

that way, an LA resident can watch the best game the NFL has to offer, since there's no "in market" games. They'd rather show the best games of the week in this second largest market and be free to jump around, than get stuck showing the LA Jags, or LA Rams, or LA Raiders every week. Of course, if the taxpayers pony up for a new stadium, that could change.

[Dramarama]

4. True

and LA has had enough teams lol

[GOPisEvil]

6. The taxpayers don't have to fund a stadium.

There's a man in LA who is willing to privately finance a stadium. It's all ready to go for the most part - he just needs a commitment from an NFL team.

[Auggie]

9. I'm sure L.A. fans are happy

But anybody with the interest of making money (like the NFL) does not turn their back to a market of nearly 18 million people.

[KamaAina]

14. How would you realign the LA Jags?

Keep 'em in the AFC South away from their natural rivals the Chargers and Raiders, or put 'em in the AFC West, leaving out KC, which has been there since AFL days?

[madinmaryland]

3. WTF is going on in JAX???

:wtf:

[charlie and algernon]

5. idk, but if you've ever wanted to be a NFL season ticket holder

but can't afford it otherwise, looks like you could one in Jacksonville. They lost 17,000 holders in the offseason.

[NJmaverick]

13. Guess it's more college football country

[Capt. America]

7. Jacksonville = Cleveland South

[TZ]

8. No way.

Cleveland fans support their team no matter how bad they are.

[Capt. America]

10. You are correct. These fans are hopeless. I meant more along the lines of the type of city.

In my work we have an office in Jacksonville and the people that go there say it is just as boring as Cleveland and the city closes shop at 6:00 pm, just like here.

[Upton]

11. Send them to LA

it'll give Onceuponalife someone to root for.

[Ishoutandscream2]

12. Honestly, I never understood the NFL's decision to base a team there

And please, Jacksonville folks, please take this as constructive criticism. I am not trying to rag on your community.

There are several cities that have stronger markets for attracting teams. And yes, moving to LA would be the perfect thing to do. Keep the league at 32 teams - no more expansion. Florida has the Dolphins and Tampa Bay. A third team in Florida - and in a very college football city, is a disaster all the way for the NFL.

Move the franchise to LA. The NFL needs to be in the nation's second largest market. It only makes sense.