Jaguars’ Entire Home Slate Blacked Out on TV; Beginning of the End in Jacksonville?

If there was a macro button to spit out a story or post about how the economy is effecting sports, I’d probably just push that right now for this news. The Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing for their first preseason game on Saturday against the Bucs. It will not be televised. Neither will the following nine games played at home by the Jaguars, according to the Florida Times-Union.↵

↵↵There are probably two camps in this story. The first believes the economy alone is to blame in this situation. The other believes Jacksonville wasn’t exactly strong in its support of the NFL to begin with, and this only tipped things over the edge. Whichever school of thought you choose to believe, it’s a black eye for the NFL that an entire home schedule is being blacked out for home fans. It’s an unmitigated disaster on multiple of fronts.↵

↵↵The NFL comes off as inconsiderate. People are cutting back on luxury goods everywhere. Know why? They’re losing their jobs. Last season, it was an embarrassment to black out games in the heart of this economic crisis: Detroit. (Now, maybe some people think they did fans a favor by blacking out a winless team, but everyone can use a diversion.) Still, imagine the good favor if Roger Goodell -- in some sort of NFL State of the Union -- comes out and acknolwedges that people have it rough and for one season, they’ll lift the blackout rules. Good for fans. Good for advertisers. Good for networks.↵

↵↵It’s bad for the growth of the league. The NFL has looked bulletproof for a long time now, sweeping in to steal baseball’s thunder in the fall. But going to games is increasingly becoming something you pass on in favor of enjoying that HDTV broadcast and a few beers that aren’t $8.50. But now, for the first time in a while, the league faces its own version of the Montreal Expos. No, the Jags won’t play in front of a crowd of a couple hundred like in Montreal’s lowest times, but a black hole has been created in one of the league’s 32 cities. ↵

↵↵Jacksonville is one of those cities everyone already seems to question when it comes to its NFL following. So rather than gain favor in the community by throwing them a bone, what do you do to the fans you’ve got already? Punitive measures, of course! And if you don’t see the vicious cycle here that ends with the Jags leaving Jacksonville in the next decade, you’re blind. Blackouts turn to even further fan disinterest, which leads to more buyouts, which leads to cost cutting by the team, which leads to more blackouts and more disinterest. Attendance eventually bottoms out. The owner sells. The team moves. ↵

↵↵I’m not saying that turning the TV back on reverses it all, but at least it says you haven’t given up on Jacksonville as an NFL city.↵

↵↵(Via Fark)↵

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