The US Census just released the 2010 and 2025 population predictions. Interesting stuff and after reading this, I feel the NFL chose Jacksonville because of our growing market.

When Jacksonville joined the league in 1995, we were the smallest market in the NFL (Green Bay and Milwaukee, I count as one). We were 29/29 (with NYC having two teams) with a population about 1,000,000 people.

In 2010, we will be 29/31 markets (Buffalo and New Orleans are now smaller) with a population base of 1,375,000. By 2025, we will be 27/31 markets (Buffalo, New Orleans, Cleveland and Milwaukee will be smaller) with an estimated population of 1,973,000 people. We'll be within 200,000 of Nashville, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh. So with a little more population, we may be looking at 23 or 24. Yes, we'll still be a "small-market" team but on the larger end vs. the lower end.

With this continuing population, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jacksonville get another pro sports team, probably soccer as it expands.

I'd love to have another Pro Sports team here, as long as it isn't soccer. I think the Magic should just move up here.

Actually, prior to them building their new arena, there were rumblings on the Magic moving to Jacksonville, one of the reasons why they had their pre-season camp in Jacksonville but that was killed when Orlando agreed to build them a new arena. They'll be moving into it next season.

I don't really care about other professional sports teams I just want my Jaguars here. Plus I never really cared for baseball or basketball.

it would be awesome to get an nba team in jacksonville

You guys are dreaming.... Jacksonville area residents need to support their one team.... Look at the so called dying city of Pittsburgh... not home of 2 of the 4 major sports championships... They support those 2 teams very well.. Jacksonville will support the Jags when the start winning again.. I look forward to the blackouts this season as the team gets good again... All those bandwagon fans will just have to buy tickets to see the home games... I don't blame the Jags ticket office.. they are offering ways for fans to see games as affordable as possible..

I can count 3.

A pro Baseball team would be great... Preferably AL ... but with the Rays and marlins that probably won't happen as with the other major sports.. theres already enough teams in FL...

The MLS is an awful league and that's the major reason America can't get into soccer. Don't start soccer bashing cuz it takes talent to play and it's not boring if you know what's going on... That's the same reason europeans hate american football. They don't know whats going on so they find it boring...
.. I think the MLS really failed with the hockey strike and doesnt present itelf well. The Galaxy tried to sign a washed up super-star to try and get people interested and that failed miserably... If they go get Christiano Ranoldo we'd be talkin...

Then again I agree with those who mentioned how difficult it is for jacksonville to get people to see the jaguars. Getting you people to a hockey or basketball game would be a nightmare!
Also, You can't compare jacksonville to a northeast town like pittsburgh/philly/new york/ thats unfair. They all have tradition and waiting lists and those towns have more people living in those cities and surrounding cities...

Doug

You do realize that the Penguins were on the verge of leaving Pittsburgh? It took a miracle and a half to keep the Pens there.

He also forgot they have a baseball team as well in Pittsburgh.

Market-size wouldn't even be an issue if we sold out the stadium. You can be #1 in marketsize, as long as there are blackouts, people will be talking about a possible move.

I agree with that. Because of the potential for blackouts there is a perception that the actual number of tickets sold to Jaguar's games is low. You can read articles left and right about what is called "the Jaguars problems selling tickets". With an average number of tickets sold during the team's existence somewhere around 66,000 a game, the team is middle of the NFL pack in terms of tickets sold. The blackout thing is a different issue entirely.

People are spoiled. It's nearly impossible this generation to overcome it. (mainly older people). The Younger teens when they grow up with their kids will be more grateful.

I think baseball is possible maybe down the road. Maybe not an expansion team but a relocated exisiting team. Things change a lot in 10 years. How many people IN 1985 thought Jax would have an NFL team 10 years later? The census is important, the midwest and northeast are hemorrhaging their populations. The people moving out of those areas are essentially moving to two regions, the west and southeast. jax right now is in a good place positioning itself as the new option over SE Fla to retirees from the northeast. It has also quietly built a diverse economy with multiple industries such as transportation, heath care, finance, imports/exports with the port, the Navy, and in some part still the paper mills. The great advantage Jax has over its Southeastern counterparts is the very simple fact of it's geography. On the ocean it has beaches people always want to live close to, works as a major port, and the St. John's river flowing through the city only helps the economy further with recreation and commerce. Think of it this way. South of New York, what is the next major city actually sitting on the Atlantic seaboard? It's advantages are immense. It will need smart local governement to fully expand upon what it already is.

Think about what you just said there.

Thats OK, so did most of the residents of Pittsburgh.

Point taken, how about smart local LEADERSHIP that includes local business and government leaders.

I'm recalling from memory here and it aint what it used to be so correct me if I'm wrong. When the Superbowl came to Jax., there had to be thousands of seats added to the stadium before the NFL would allow the game to be played here. prior to the addition of the new seats, there were few if any blackouts. Wayne Weaver covered a good portion of the added seats and ate the cost of those tickets, but there were still a few thousand that remained uncovered and added to the number of tickets that must be sold to avoid blackouts. I seem to recall discussion at that time that the addition of those seats required to be awarded the Superbowl may cause future blackouts. So basically what happened was our stadium was built with small market seating capacity and upgraded to large market seating capacity and now we cant sell out the stadium. Now I'm not trying to make excuses as to why ticket sales are way down, and I'm not saying that is the only cause of blackouts, but I believ that is another factor. Large corporations also used to buy mass amounts of season tickets or even gameday tickets to give to employees as some type of bonus. I recall some car dealerships also purchased large amounts of season tickets and did the " Have I got a deal for you! Buy cars from us and get Jaguars season tickets". I think that has slowed down as well. I lived in Jax. when we got the team. I just last year moved from Jax to Pa. I live in die hard steeler fan country yet I still fly my Jaguars flag on the front of my house. I can't attend the games but I'm still a fan.

As for the steelers fans and selling out the stadium each and every week. You have to remember they have been around 3/4 of a century and are considered a nfl dynasty. Their stadium has had few upgrades and seat additions in the last 20 years. (All stadiums have some through the years). The new stadium did open in 01 with 65,050 seats. Jax stadium has more seating capacity. Steelers fans flock to the stadium to support the steelers each and every week. There are not many people around anymore in Steelers country who can never remember the team never being there. The Steelers sell out every week because "my dad took me to games when i was a kid as did my dads dad, and his father before that." They do that and love their steelers because that's how always been done plus the steelers being around for so long are very good. Everywhere you go, steelers merchandise is in your face. You can't walkin into any store of any kind without some kind of Steelers mechandise being sold. The local ice cream shop sells Steelers tshirts and hats. They have been here forever and people support them because that's how it's always been done.

It's not the size that matters...
It's the number of people who actually care.

I agree with that comment. But it would seem we have more seating capacity than people who care. When a team has trouble selling tickets and then adds more that spells trouble. The jags fanbase is not weak, we just need to get more people interested. Now how do you combat that?

1st all Pittsburgh is not dying. They're actually on the "up" as they're cornering the market on robotic healthcare. Rand McNally had them ranked as the #1 most livable major city when it comes to employment, housing prices, crime, etc. With some of the most notable universities within a 20 mile range, they are actually becoming very reputable moving in the direction that a city like Boston has already established.


Regarding their support of the Pens & Steelers (and also averaging 22,000 for the hapless Pirates), they have a history of generations that stay in Pittburgh. Florida will always have some issues when it come to sellouts as it is a transient state. Just look at the Phins down in Miami. The reason they draw crowds is because they play the NY Jets, Bills, and Patriots which attract large numbers from the heavy population of NY and Bostonians down in South Florida.

Bottom line is we have one of the lowest blackout numbers in the league, around 50,000. There are no other professional sports franchises (except the Suns) that compete for the sports entertainment dollar like other cities.

No excuses. If you care about the team, just buy the da#% tickets!

Well thats a great idea! Now why didn't I think about that. Now that I no longer live in Jax well actually middleburg (now in Pa.) i should renew my season tickets. If you would have read my original post, I stated that i wasn't trying to make an excuse out of the seating capacity. I agree people need to quit making excuses about buying tickets. "the heat, the parking the expense and oh yes even "crows"...etc etc etc". some fans don't live in jax you know. If you can buy them then buy them! If you can't afford season tickets, try and scrape up the money for tickets to single home games and make no excuse about not selling out the stadium. I do care about the team, very much, but I am 1700 miles away therefore I wont be buying season tickets. So the "if you care about the team just buy tickets" comment kind of hit me wrong. If i still lived in middleburg, i would but just because fans can't buy tickets for whatever reason does not mean they dont care. If you care about the jags and you can afford and/or its practical for you, then yes i agree there would be no excuse to not buy the tickets.

Sorry if I offended you, that was not my intention. I was not talking about you personally to buy the tickets. That would not be fair since you are living in PA. I am speaking to the bandwagon fans that have the money but choose to not support the team through thick and thin as a real fan would. You can make a 1,000 excuses not to buy if you want to.

I know how rough this economy is, believe me. My hours have been cut 20%, the company is doing poorly and my wife's job is in jeapordy. With that being said, I have been a STH since day one, and I cannot imagine giving up my seats. I will make cuts in other areas to save my seats, because they are precious to me.

Bring back the passion from the 90's.

Why, so they can say that they choked in two cities? LOL

I don't give Jax a snowballs chance to land another team. We don't have the facility for baseball, hockey or basketball. We'd need a minimum of 35k for baseball and 20k for hockey/basketball.

We'll be lucky just to keep the one we have especially if the mentality. economy whatever you want to blame it on doesn't change about the one team we do have.

Nawww ya didn't offend me...just took me a little by surprise is all. It's all good...And I totally agree with you about the people who just don't buy tickets even though they have the means and ability to.

I think that Jax should get a hockey team. In Rapid City 45 miles from where I live they had an arena league team called the Red Dogs. We went to a few games but it was just not football you know what I mean. They ditched the Dogs and built a Hockey arena onto the civic center. About the first 4 games their wasn't alot of people but as the season went on about to the 14th game they were sold out every home game. I attended probably 6 games all together and you had to buy your tickets 3 weeks in advance. The people around here are absolutely nuts about having a small time hockey team to go and watch. People drive from over 120 miles away to watch them play. And you see their Jerseys all over town.

That being said I don't really understand all the rules to hockey but I am learning. It is boring to watch on t.v. still but being at a game is on par with attending an NFL game. And you get to see some good fighting too. Trust me if they got a hockey team they would sell out. But you have to just give it a little bit of time to catch on.