We’ve noticed a pattern over the past few years. Whenever anyone dares to suggest that the Jaguars may not survive in Jacksonville given the inability of the franchise, for whatever reason, to sell enough tickets on a consistent basis, the person making the suggestion is characterized as a “hater” or worse, with the same kind of passion that arose last summer in red state/blue state town hall meetings regarding health care.
Even when we pointed out that Vic Ketchman -- the editor of the team’s website -- declared the effort to be at the “save the whale” juncture, we were called out for not reciting in chapter-and-verse fashion every shred of evidence that possibly points to a happy ending to this story.
But, frankly, it doesn’t matter to us how the story ends. For now, the point is that the ending isn’t written, and it may be a happy one only for folks in Los Angeles or London.
Now, Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union (whom most people don’t think is an idiot) has declared on Twitter that the franchise faces a “crisis situation” in Jacksonville.
He points out that the first home preseason game will occur in six weeks, and that 11,000 tickets must be sold to avoid a local blackout of the game.
“We may find out in the next six weeks if Jacksonville fans want an NFL team,” Stellino writes. “Jags fans need to learn a lesson. They can’t be content to watch games on TV or they will be watching the Jags on TV playing in another city in a few years. This is a crisis situation for the Jags. All the those fans on the fence need to step up now.”
And that’s really the bottom line. Don’t complain because folks are willing to acknowledge that the chronic inability to sell tickets won’t end well for the town that currently houses the team. The best way to shut us up is to buy the tickets before it’s too late.
Eventually, it’s going to be too late.