This is a multi-part series that explores the financial health of
the Jacksonville Jaguars. In order to put the Jags financial data into perspective it is necessary to understand stadium capacity
and attendance data also. Those statistics are best understood when put in the context of regional population. Population
data is from the 2000 US Census. All other data is from the 2004 season.
Where do the Jaguar's stand in the NFL in average ticket prices? How much does the large stadium and
the small market effect ticket prices?
Ticket Prices
For the 2005 season the Jaguars were 29th in average ticket prices at $57.03. The Buffalo Bills were
30th at $53.42. The Arizona Cardinals were 31st at $52.92 and the Miami Dolphins were 32nd at $52.85. The average of the average
ticket prices was $70.07 and the median was the Indianapolis Colts at $68.42. It doesn't seem like much but the $10.00 per
ticket that would move the Jaguars near the median would result in more than $6M a year in additional gate receipts.
By the way three Super Bowls in four years will get you an average ticket price of $128.12, which
is $37.00 per ticket higher than the second place Philadelphia Eagles ($91.64). But back to the Jaguars ticket prices. $6M
more in gate receipts per season would raise the Jaguar gate receipts from $36M to $42M, which coincidentally is the league
average gate receipts per season. So how do the Jaguars get ticket prices up? By increasing the demand for tickets and/or
decreasing the supply of tickets.
Supply
As mentioned in other articles Alltel Stadium was built as a 73,000 seat stadium for NFL football.
This was done to accommodate the Gator Bowl and the Florida-Georgia Game. With 7,000 removable seats, the stadium can accommodate
80,000 patrons for college football. With the 46th largest market in the U.S. and the smallest NFL market, Jacksonville cannot
fill the 10th largest stadium in the NFL. So the Jaguars covered up 6,000 seats in an attempt to lower the supply of tickets.
This was done for two reasons. First, the Jaguars needed to eliminate the TV blackouts. Second, if the stadium is continually
sold out and tickets become scarce, the demand would exist to raise ticket prices.
Demand
Well covering up 6,000 seats qualifies for decreasing the supply of tickets, so how do you increase
demand? Many people will say 'just win baby'. And certainly the Patriots ticket prices will prove that works. But how many
teams can win three Super Bowls in four years. With the smallest market in the NFL, the Jaguars must convince a higher percentage
of the population to buy tickets. When you need a higher percentage it is likely that you need to sell tickets to lower income
ranges. Which means lower ticket prices.
Jaguar Revenue Magic
Why did the NFL grant a franchise to Jacksonville if it knew the market was too small? A small market
limits total sales and prices. So why did they do it? Well Wayne Weaver was an innovator with a magic revenue plan. The Jaguars
were the first team to design and build a stadium with a very large club seating section. The result was that they could demand
very high prices for about 20,000 seats and hopefully sell out that section to the wealthier population. They could still
offer affordable seating to the rest of the stadium and hopefully sell out in a small market. This plan was part of Wayne
Weaver's sales pitch to the NFL to grant a Jacksonville franchise. And the NFL bought the concept.
This plan worked very well. The Jaguars attracted large crowds and a high per capita rate of sales
with affordable prices, while at the same time yielding a high average ticket price thanks to the club seating price differential.
This plan worked so well that it became the downfall to the Jaguar magic revenue plan. How? Teams began to emulate that plan.
All across the NFL new stadiums were built with the same concept and everybody was able to grow gate receipts with this plan.
As a result the Jaguars no longer had this advantage over other teams. While everyone else was raising gate receipts, the
Jaguars were tapped out. When the CAP sins caught up to the Jaguars and they started to field losing teams, the small market
caught up with the Jags. So the Jaguars downsized their seating capacity because of the small market.
Where do the Jags go from here?
Los Angeles! Just kidding! Even with the fast growth rate it will take years for the Jacksonville
market to catch up to other NFL markets. So increased gate receipts is a long term battle. Merchandising sales and local
TV revenue are also affected by the small market. The NFL does have a revenue sharing model. And Wayne Weaver has been
trying to rework that agreement to share more revenue from large market teams with the small market teams. Good luck! The
other area to generate more money is to rework the stadium lease with the city. Bingo.
This is not the first time that a professional franchise has held a city hostage to its small market.
There are two ways to strong arm the city. First direct benefits from more favorable stadium lease agreements. Second is to
have the city help in the selling of corporate loges. The Jaguars have not sold out loge boxes for quite some time. And corporate
revenue is an area where Jacksonville is not a small market. The civic responsibility of corporations who benefit from the
cheap labor force and low taxes in Jacksonville can be emphasized by city leaders as well as the Jaguars. Bringing back corporate
revenue can make the Jaguars competitive in gate receipts with other teams in the NFL.
Remember back when the city wanted a franchise and didn't have one. They
were extremely active in developing corporate support for the team then. The latest administration has been silent in this
area and non-interested.
Summary
As shown in previous articles, the people of the city of Jacksonville have
done their part to support the team with the highest average attendance per capita. I'll bet you didn't know that
Jacksonville was second to Buffalo is gate receipts per capita. The magic revenue plan has run it's course. The city has reworked
it's stadium lease with the Jaguars. It's time for the corporations of this town to do their part once again. And the city
can help in that sales job! Buy loges!!!
