Jacksonville Jaguars...Is their end near?

[dunnyduns]

Quote: Originally Posted by z Revis

Huh? lol. This was quite random. When was it ever going to be the Colts?

The Colts won't be moving anytime soon with the new stadium but, before plans were finalized for the new stadium the Colts were always one of the teams mentioned for possible relocation. It wasn't that long ago that the Colts were in the same position now that the Jaguars are in with poor fan support. I remember quite a few times in the 90's and the early Manning era that the Colts home games either got blacked out or some business buying the unsold tickets to give away to like a charity or WISH-tv, the CBS station in Indy, buying up the leftover tickets so they could broadcast the game locally.

Now, in Indianapolis the Pacers are like the Colts in the 90's in that they can't give away tickets and that's in a basketball crazed state. I fear that once the Colts fall from the top and are Manning-less and possibly string together a few sub .500 seasons it will be like those times in the 90's with empty seats everywhere. The City of Indianapolis won't be able to afford that since they are still paying for a building not even around anymore in the RCA Dome.

[deaduck]

Quote: Originally Posted by The GIGGAS

What about Virginia Beach? I understand that's reasonably close, but I figure with it being the 42nd largest city in America that a reasonable following could arise from that.

For those who assume VA is just a string of hicktowns (not you GIG) , The Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads market is one of the largest in the country to not have a pro team. At roughly, 1.7 to 1.8 million we rank 33 in U.S. population and are expected to exceed 2 million on the next census due to area growth despite the economic downturn.

That said, it is made up of many transients/transplants citizens who have shown no desire to support local teams at a level that suggests a move by a pro franchise to the area would be wise. A secondary problem is the lack of a stadium/arena with the infrastructure to support a event. Traffic is woefull without adding a post game mass exodus to it.

Lastly, it's not one municipality that governs the area. It's a mashed up collection of cities and counties that do not play well together. Unification on anything seems unlikely.

[Cebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by The GIGGAS

What about Virginia Beach? I understand that's reasonably close, but I figure with it being the 42nd largest city in America that a reasonable following could arise from that.

Virginia Beach is a smallish media market with several teams in the area.

It'd basically be moving Jacksonville to Jacksonville north. You also have no stadium, but that probably doesn't even factor.

I doubt Virginia ever gets a real pro team.

The best you can hope for would be a situation with the Redskins and Maryland, but even then it'd be a few decades.

[deaduck]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cebby

Virginia Beach is a smallish media market with several teams in the area.

Depending on what source you quote the Hampton Roads area hovers in the mid thirties to low forties on media market scales. That's not "smallish" at all but skims the edge of any leagues interest.

And the only "local" NFL team is the Redskins for the most part but like I said in a earlier post. This place is a mash of folks from other areas so that fan base while the largest doesn't even dominate. If anything there is a unexplained high amount of Dolphin fans in this area.

[FedExPope]

Quote: Originally Posted by barats

They have reported that none of their home games have sold out for this year which will mean every one of their games will blackout. And they have to put a tarp over at least 10,000 of their seats. Owners are all about making money and whoever owns the team sure is losing tons of ticket sales for every game played. Thing is, this team is not a god awful team. They are 2 years removed from playing the Pats real well in the 2nd round of the playoffs and they have had some success over the years, especially right off the bat. Will they be moving the team in the near future? I'm guessing yes. Probably to L.A.

They're not 'god awful'. Jones-Drew can run on anyone, but their front office has done with the defense what the Bucs did to theirs under Gruden...just gotten rid of their biggest stars. Amazes me.

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by FedExPope

They're not 'god awful'. Jones-Drew can run on anyone, but their front office has done with the defense what the Bucs did to theirs under Gruden...just gotten rid of their biggest stars. Amazes me.

Their biggest stars got old and started sucking. Same for the Bucs. Players don't stay good forever. In any case, they shouldn't have this much trouble selling out a stadium for how good the team has been. I drive 2 hours and put out about $30 a ticket to watch the Reds, who suck so bad it's not even funny any more, yet Jacksonville can't sell out an NFL stadium after having one losing season in the past five years.

I think the Colts will be fine after Manning leaves. Once you've built an NFL fan base with years of success, a Super Bowl, and multiple Hall of Famers, I think people will stick around and we'll avoid the fate of Buffalo.

[Tiko7523]

ill never respect the jags after cutting fred taylor (one of my fav players) he did so much for that franchise and that didnt have to happen to him... the owner for the jag is cheap

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tiko7523

ill never respect the jags after cutting fred taylor (one of my fav players) he did so much for that franchise and that didnt have to happen to him... the owner for the jag is cheap

They cut him out of respect. They wanted to give him a chance to start somewhere or win a championship, and MJD was going to take his job that season.