Orlando Sentinel - Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver says ...

by Mike Bianchi

In a recent interview with the Sentinel, Weaver said the NFL is likely to add two games and go to an 18-game regular season within the next three years. If it happens, Weaver, whose team is already struggling mightily to sell tickets in Jacksonville, is keeping a watchful eye on football-starved Orlando as a place where he could play games and grow his fan base. Weaver’s scenario is a first step: The NFL goes to an 18-game format with the Jags playing a package of regular season and preseason games in Orlando. The Jags get to tap into the Orlando market; we get a taste of the NFL. How cool would it be to go see the Jags-Dolphins in Orlando? Or Jags-Bucs? Or Jags-anybody? It’s the NFL, for crying out loud. Yes, the economy is bad and Jacksonville’s growth has stagnated, but it’s deeper than that. NFL sources say the Jaguars have been alarmed for years about their shrinking season-ticket base. Even in the late 1990s -- when Jacksonville’s economy was good, the city’s population was growing and the team was a powerhouse -- season-ticket sales continued to fall.

Bianchi....The Jaguars are never going to leave Jacksonville. You've heard it from Weaver himself, he will never allow the team to leave Jacksonville. Once the economy improves and the team improves, ticket sales will improve. In order for the Jags to play any games in Orlando, the Jags would have to get a real stadium first to play in. The Cirtus Bowl isn't going to cut it. Remember back in early 90's, the NFL toured the stadium and said no way in hell would we allow a team to be based here. Wasn't Orlando on the orginal list of expansion cities back in the late 80's/early 90's? They didn't make the first cut, while Jacksonville did. Fact is the Cirtus Bowl is really the Citrus Canker Bowl and the state should step in and burn it down.

I like how Bianchi was complaining about how we have to watch the bucs, jags, and fins on local tv, but now all of a sudden he is excited that they might play a few games here. While I do like the idea of the Jags possibly moving here (even though this season doesn't look too good for them), it will never happen until we get an actual stadium. The Citrus Bowl is like the Lake Eola fountain: it's there, and they won't get rid of it.

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