The temporary end zone seats for Saturday’s Georgia-Florida game have been installed but they weren’t open for seating at Sunday’s 30-17 Jaguars loss to Tennessee. The seats, atop the South end zone, actually took away space because that area is an upper patio with concession stands and a favorite spot for railbirds.
Georgia-Florida fans will be pleased — the new seats are all chairback — but those holding tickets for the $3,000-a-seat Terrace Club may not be because the new seats come into that area on both ends.
The stadium seats about 76,000 but must be enlarged to 82,000 to meet the contractual status with Georgia and Florida.
Mike Sullivan, executive director of the Sports and Entertainment Board who oversees game day activities for the City, said he hopes to have a different seating setup next year.
“We’ll see if we can put some seats in the corners [of the field] so we don’t have to bring the seating down onto the terrace,” he said.
The concessionaires who usually work the upper patio moved down to back of the Bud Zone.
• The crowd for Sunday’s game was late arriving and there was a notable lack of tailgaters. The River City parking lot on the East side may have had its smaller crowd ever and even the Stadium District’s only hotspot, the New Amsterdam Cafe, wasn’t much more than half-full.
• The game was blacked out so you missed one of the all-time gaffes on the television closed captioning: the Titans’ Justin McCareins came out “McCocaine.”
• There were some scoreboard problems for the second straight game. This time, the panels showing the score came and went.
• You’ll see lots of activity around the stadium this week as the City prepares its hospitality area for the Georgia-Florida game. The old practice field outside the South end zone will be the site for most of the partying, and the big tent that’s already there will have the Hall of Fame luncheon.
• It will be easier to work around the stadium this week. The fair is over and the carny operators are packing up and should be headed for their next stop by late today. While some deride the fair’s presence downtown, it did add a festive look to the television broadcast.
• Next week: the Jags have a 1 p.m. game at Baltimore, then are back the following week to play Indianapolis at 1 p.m.