So I’m watching four preseason games at the same damn time via NFL.com’s Preseason Live package, and it’s hard not to notice the contrast between the crowds in Jacksonville and Miami.
The Jaguars have nearly a full house against the Giants, with some patches of blue in the upper deck. Unless these seats belong to season-ticket holders who opted not to show up, it means that unsold non-premium tickets were purchased by the team at 34 cents on the dollar to lift the local blackout.
In Miami, the check needed to lift the local blackout would have had more than a few zeroes. The crowd at Sun Life Stadium for the Bucs-Fins game looks sparse.
“Sparse” actually is kind. There’s hardly anyone there.
UPDATE 8:10 p.m. ET: Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene says that the game wasn’t blacked out locally. Which means that owner Stephen Ross bought the excess at 34 cents on the dollar.