Blinded by the Dark

By Arlen Blakeman

A city of 1.3 million, Jacksonville, Florida is well suited to support an NFL team. However, the terrible economic situation in this city has had a devastating toll on ticket sales of their only major professional sports team, The Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville is one of the most industrial towns in the South. The backbone of its economy is the automotive parts industry. For the first eight years of its existence, the team was very successful.  They made it to the AFC Championship game in only their second year of existence and made the playoffs four times in their first eight years.  Not only was the team doing well, but also the economy was flourishing.  This led to ticket sales that were through the roof.  However, with GM going down and Toyota’s stock failing, thousands are out of work in this city. These struggling families obviously need to spend their 100 dollars on more important things than a ticket to see the Jaguars live. However, this is the only option they have to see their favorite team play on Sundays. The Jaguars, because of low ticket sales, did not televise seven out of eight of the their home games last season.

The NFL’s “Blackout Policy” has been enforced since 1973.  The policy states that if a home game of a team is not sold out within 72 hours of kickoff, the game will not be shown on local television.  The Jacksonville Jaguars organization, to help this problem, have closed off sections for advertising and even given fair package deals to fans wanting to see the team.  The team is not to blame for this problem.  It is the NFL’s ridiculous blackout policy that has cut ties between the team and its city.  Former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, who brought the Jaguars to Jacksonville in 1995, stated that the city does rally around the team, but that in the current economy no one can afford to go.  So why should they be punished?

Watching sports used to be an activity any person, no matter race, wealth, or gender, could participate in.  But now the greediness of the NFL has put a limit to this freedom.  Plus, if you think about it, there are many who are too old to sit in the hot sun of Florida for three hours.  Also, there are people with disabilities who sometimes cannot make it to the game but still love to watch the sport and forget about the hardships of life for a few hours.  It’s not always about money Roger Goodell and I urge you to lift this ban and give America’s game back to the people of Jacksonville.

Think watching your home town NFL team is your right as a tax payer (considering you helped pay for the stadium)?

Think again Jacksonville Jaguar fans.

Thus far, every home game  in 2009 has been blacked out.  To add insult to injury, this is a team in the playoff hunt, holding down a wild card spot after 13 weeks of play.

Let’s add this up: publicly funded stadium, a winning team, third lowest ticket prices in the league, but still not enough tickets have been sold to satisfy Roger Goodell’s minimum requirements for local television coverage.

No matter where the ticket prices rank league wide, the NFL shouldn’t uphold this policy in these economic times.  Abel Harding, a business columnist at the Florida Times Union, told Conan Neal on Talk of the Nation, “that’s been a big deal, and that’s where it goes back to a lot of people saying maybe the NFL is being a bit greedy here, enforcing the blackout rule in the middle of an economic downturn…they’re making plenty of money. Maybe if they had some consideration, they might waive it for a year or so but they have not done that.”

The Sports Fans Coalition  is committed to supporting legislation that will enable fans to watch their home team’s games.