by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The 2007 football season is shaping up to be one of the biggest in Jacksonville history and one that may make Jacksonville the football capital of the nation. However, unless negotiations accelerate, there’s a good chance there will be 10 Jacksonville Jaguars games and four big college football games this year played in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium instead of fill-in-the-blank stadium.
“We are still optimistic we will get a deal done before the start of the season,” said Bill Prescott, the team’s CFO and vice president of stadium operations. “We will be patient and diligent.”
Prescott talked about the naming rights issue and several other topics in the first of a series of open meetings with the local media.
“This is the first of a series to help you with your coverage,” said team spokesman Dan Edwards. “We will answer questions and address issues. In this case, we have started with the most complex. We want to provide you with good, accurate information to help you understand what we deal with.”
As CFO, Prescott is the team’s financial liaison to the NFL and handles negotiations with the City, SMG and Levy Restaurants. The stadium’s naming rights, he said, are at the top of his priority list during the offseason. In addition to 10 Jaguars games (two of them are preseason), the stadium will also host four big college football games — Florida State/Alabama, Florida/Georgia, the ACC title game and the Gator Bowl. There is also the possibility of Jaguars playoff games. The 10-year sponsorship deal with Alltel recently expired and the team and City are in the market for another longterm deal — and a significantly better deal.
“The market is good for an increase. That will help us and the City,” said Prescott, explaining the team is looking for a company to pay upwards of $4 million a year for 15-20 years for the right to put their name on the stadium. “The value comes in the TV coverage. We reach a much broader audience than the Gator Bowl. The City’s portion goes into the Sports Complex Trust Fund and that indirectly benefits the Gator Bowl, the ACC championship and a BCS (Bowl Championship Series) game down the road.”
The Jaguars have retained Team Services to help find a title sponsor. Team Services has indicated the process can take 3-16 months, a time frame that would stretch into the beginning of the 2007 season. Prescott said the team is willing to enter the season without a name on the stadium. He was also asked if he thinks $4 million a year is reasonable for a stadium in one of the league’s smallest markets.
“I do,” he said.
Prescott said a couple of prospects have expressed interest in the stadium, but they are “not hot.”
He also talked about revenue sharing among the league’s 32 teams and the fact that keeping the stadium filled is the single best way to assure the team stays in Jacksonville.
“We want to get ticket prices in the general bowl higher and closer to the rest of the NFL,” said Prescott. “We want to keep the Club seats filled.”
The stadium has 11,200 Club seats and Prescott said for the most part they were sold out last year. A few games saw 600-800 unsold Club seats.