by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
Blackout. A dirty word in Jacksonville.
It’s an economic necessity, says the National Football League. It’s a misuse of public trust, say the fans who can’t attend Jacksonville Jaguar games, either because of personal circumstances, lack of funds of just plain cheapness.
So, what triggers a blackout, the dreaded time when the Jags’ game is declared off local television because not enough tickets were sold? And how can the team say it’s blacked out because not enough seats were sold, and then announce over 60,000 “tickets distributed”?
It’s all apples and oranges.
The apple, in this case, is the total capacity of Alltel Stadium, which in the Jags’ setup is 76,877 minus the seats covered this year, 9,713. (The seats were covered to reduce the number needed to avoid a blackout.)
Thus, the capacity: 67,164.
Forget that number.
“You’re confusing the total seats with the blackout rule,” said Scott Loft, the team’s executive director of ticket sales and marketing. “You can almost sell out and still black out.”
Go back to the capacity, and break it down by category of seats:
Club seats: 11,228.
Luxury Suites: 1,694.
Terrace: 780.
General Bowl: 53,422.
(Those of you with a calculator will see that this doesn’t quite total 67,164. The 40 missing seats are somewhere in the mix.)
Now we get to the oranges.
“Only consider one number: the number of general bowl seats,” said Loft, doing his best to uncomplicate a complicated process. “Forget 67,164. Forget the number of covered seats. Forget the luxury seats. The number to work with is the number of General Bowl seats.”
53,422.
“That’s the number that the NFL uses to determine whether the game is on TV or not,” said Loft. The Jaguars have to sell about 98 percent of the total number of General Bowl seats to avoid a blackout. “They allow a little leeway, 2 percent or so for handicapped people, their escorts, players’ complimentary tickets and the seats we give to the USO.”
The team originally said the blackout number was a bit over 49,000. The National Football League came during the summer and audited the seats and upped it.
The blackout number: 50,500.
“That’s 50,500 of the 53,422,” emphasized Loft. “That’s not 50,500 of 67,164, which would be a sellout.”
OK, you can sell 64,000 of the 67,164 tickets and still be blacked out?
“Yes, said Loft, “if those unsold seats were in the General Bowl.”
Why wouldn’t they base the blackout on the total number of seats rather than just a portion of the stadium?
That answer goes back to the NFL and it’s a league-wide rule — not every team has luxury seats.
Now, the bottom line: How to do we stand on blackouts now?
“On an average, we’re about 3,000 short,” said Loft. “For Seattle (the first game,) about 1,900.”
• • •
More questions and answers:
Q: The attendance is announced as “tickets distributed.” What does that mean?
Loft: “Tickets sold, plus the comps and the USO.”
Q: Why not say “Tickets sold”?
Loft: “It’s an NFL term.”
Q: Why not give the exact attendance?
Loft: “Until a few years ago, we were one of the 2 or 3 teams that did. The NFL set a policy that we all follow.”
Q: How many Club Seats have been sold?
Loft: “Close to 9,000. By no means is that a bad figure. We have a lot of Club Seats compared to other teams. We’re in the top 8 (of 32) in terms of inventory and sales.”
Q: How many Luxury Suites have been sold?
Loft: “85 of the 90. That’s 1,590 of the 1,694 seats.”
Q: The team has worked hard on corporate sales. Is this a concern?
Loft: “An opportunity. We sell something like 22-23 percent corporate and the league average is closer to 60 percent. There isn’t the depth of corporations here that other cities have. Nothing against Jacksonville; it’s just the way it is. We work hard on that market. A law firm just signed a five-year commitment for a Luxury Suite, for instance. We have all sorts of corporate packages. We tell them ‘Our business can be good for your business.’”
Q: The Bud Zone is a very popular place. Any thoughts of expanding it?
Loft: “No plans for anything right now.”
Q: The Terrace Club (the level above the Bud Zone) seems pretty sparse. Could you convert that to another public-availability place like the Bud Zone?
Loft: (pulling out a calculator): “780 seats times 2,950 dollars for the season.” Click-click-click. He hands the calculator across the desk. The lighted liquid crystal display says 2,310,000. “That’s why.”