Jaxonvil's home preseason games blacked out -ESPN

SaltwaterServr

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4329428

Archive Jaguars fans in and around Jacksonville will not be able to see the team's two home preseason games on local TV -- neither live, nor on tape delay.
Because the games are not expected to sell out, they can't be aired live locally under the NFL's blackout rules. And the team's preseason broadcast partner -- Fox and CBS affiliate WTEV -- will not produce the games for a tape-delayed broadcast, the station's general manager said.
"The cost to produce the game is exactly the same whether it's in prime time or on tape delay at 11 or midnight," WTEV general manager Jeff Whitson said. "From a recouping-our-costs standpoint, advertisers are not going to get the same value and can't be charged the same. The economics of the game's whole plan change except for the expenses."

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The production of each game costs the station roughly $80,000, Whitson said.The Jaguars host Tampa Bay on Aug. 22 and Washington on Sept. 3.
Even the Buccaneers and Commanders broadcasts, for those in North Florida who might be able to access the stations that broadcast them, will be blacked out in the region.


But the NFL Network re-airs preseason games. The August 22 Buccaneers at Jaguars game will be televised on August 23 at 7 a.m. ET. The September 3 Commanders at Jaguars game will be shown September 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET.



WTEV will broadcast the team's two road preseason games -- at Miami Aug. 17 and at Philadelphia Aug. 27 -- with Paul Burmeister and Tony Boselli calling the game and Brent Martineau on the sidelines.


Whitson said affiliates in three other Florida markets -- Orlando, Gainesville, and Tallahassee -- as well as in Savannah, Ga., also saw "no financial sense" in the tape-delay scenario for the two home games.


Whitson said he hopes the team, which has sold somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 season tickets, fares better at the box office to avoid regular-season blackouts.


"They don't want this to be perceived as a ploy to sell tickets," he said. "It's the reality of the business." Edwards said because of the ticket numbers, it didn't make sense to put the decision off.
Paul Kuharsky covers the AFC South for ESPN.com.

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The question I have is that if they cannot sell out a home preseason game when they ALREADY close off the top tier of their stadium to create a pseudo-sold out game, how financially solvent can the team be?

Moreover, wouldn't it make more sense to relocate the team to another city or metropolitan area that has some football folks in it? How about to one of states that produces players for almost every major college program out there?

Why not to a city where you have a direct gateway to an international market who already have ties to that area?

I'm not saying, but I'm saying an NFL team in San Antonio might do well for the NFL to expand a little more to the international flavor of Mexico, especially considering some of the largest ever crowds for NFL games were in Mexico.

If you couple San Antonio and Austin with secondary viewing audiences in El Paso, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley, Del Rio and Laredo, you've got yourself a very sizable television market.

Now it goes without saying that this entire area is first and foremost Cowboys country, but I feel that a team would do well here despite that.
 

speedkilz88

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I wouldn't want another team in Texas. That could eventually hurt Cowboys fans in the city that a new team comes to, television viewing wise. I'm in the Houston broadcast area and there is usually a few games a year that conflict. Finding a radio station carrying the Cowboys game is even tougher.
 

Chocolate Lab

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I think you answered your own question when you said that all of south Texas is Cowboys country...

I think the Jags have to be the leader in the clubhouse to move to LA. Whether it's deserved or not, the league seems to want a team there.
 

Stash

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Chocolate Lab;2844024 said:
I think you answered your own question when you said that all of south Texas is Cowboys country...

I think the Jags have to be the leader in the clubhouse to move to LA. Whether it's deserved or not, the league seems to want a team there.

It sure does seem that way.

But it certainly look like the situation in Jacksonville isn't working out.
 

trickblue

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SaltwaterServr;2843768 said:
I'm not saying, but I'm saying an NFL team in San Antonio might do well for the NFL to expand a little more to the international flavor of Mexico, especially considering some of the largest ever crowds for NFL games were in Mexico.

That would be a hard sell...

San Antonio is overwhelmingly devoted to the Cowboys, as is Mexico...

It looks good on paper, but it's very hard to get fans to change their affiliation. When the Saints played there, interviews of people attending the game said they wouldn't have attended had the Cowboy game been at the same time.
 

CowboyMike

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SaltwaterServr;2843768 said:
If you couple San Antonio and Austin with secondary viewing audiences in El Paso, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley, Del Rio and Laredo, you've got yourself a very sizable television market.

Now it goes without saying that this entire area is first and foremost Cowboys country, but I feel that a team would do well here despite that.

Hmm. Over here in El Paso, it's Cowboys country through and through. And those that aren't Cowboys fans are Raiders fans.

I'm not even sure if they broadcast Texans preseason games over here. I'd have to take a look. I'm just not sure if this area would be good for a secondary team.

I think a team in San Antonio would be pretty good. I think Los Angeles would get a team first, though. I never understood why Florida has three teams and Texas only has two. It doesn't make sense. And Jacksonville of all places. Heck, El Paso is nearly the same size as Jacksonville, and we definitely can't support a team here.
 
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