by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t ready to get specific about ticket sales for the upcoming season but they do have a few things to say.
Like:
• The Terrace Suite is sold out. Those are the 800 or so seats above the Bud Zone in the North end zone.
• The “general bowl” is sold out for four games. Club Seats are the only things that remain for the Sept. 10 opener against Dallas, the Monday night game the following week against Pittsburgh, the Nov. 20 return of former Coach Tom Coughlin and his New York Giants for the other Monday night game, and the Dec. 10 game against the team’s biggest rival, the Indianapolis Colts.
“Sales are going well,” said Scott Loft, the team’s executive director of ticket sales and marketing. “Very well. We aren’t prepared to release any numbers. We should have those in a week or so.”
Sales for single games won’t start until July but season ticket buyers and group sales to organizations have taken most non-Club Seats, he said.
Single game sales expect to be strong, based on the schedule which brings teams here with strong followings.
Loft wouldn’t guess on sellouts but it’s no secret that the team expects all eight regular season Alltel Stadium games to avoid being blacked out on local TV.
Sales have been buoyed in recent weeks by the optimism coming out of the team’s off-season drills known as “Organized Team Activities,” which aren’t required of the players but which have seen almost everyone attend.
“We have 80 players now and I really am going to have a hard time cutting the roster,” said Coach Jack Del Rio after practice this week. “There is a lot of depth here.”
And quarterback Byron Leftwich added, “It gets better every year. The players are serious. I think a lot of them are like me — when I’m in town, it’s football 24/7.”