by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Florida Coastal School of Law assistant professor Roger Groves took his sports law workshop class to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium last week — but it wasn’t to see a Jaguars game. A group of 17 law students were there to learn more about the business of sports.
Coastal Law School’s Center for Law and Sports made its debut in 2005 and has quickly become a major draw for future law students. Groves, who began teaching at Florida Coastal in August, said as far as he knows, this was the first time a class went to the stadium to see all that goes on besides the football games.
“We have been talking a lot about the business and economic impact of having the Jaguars in Jacksonville,” said Groves. “We are also talking about the state-of-the-art facility and the naming rights.”
It was only fitting for Groves to bring his class to see the day-to-day operations at the stadium first hand.
The class had an opportunity to ask questions to Bill Prescott, senior vice president of stadium operations and CFO. Senior sales executive Glen Fisher gave them a full tour of everything the stadium has to offer. Prescott spoke to the group in the Crowne Royal Touchdown Club and addressed several issues that the students had e-mailed him prior to the trip.
“The stadium is our major revenue source,” he said. “And our biggest competitor is the amount of football games being broadcast on TV.”
According to Prescott, tradition is another area that hurts the Jaguars. He explained that Jaguars fans are not at the same point in history as fans of teams like the New York Giants, the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers. Those teams have a much larger and loyal following because they have been in the league longer.
Prescott added that they are also looking for more ways to bring the younger fans to the stadium.
“As a facility, to deal with the changes in demographics, we have added things like the Bud Zone,” said Prescott. “It (the Bud Zone) has been a huge success.
“We had no idea it was going to be as successful as it is.”
Prescott said they are also looking at different ways to use technology to engage fans.
“We are finding ways to take the facility and change it with the times,” he said.
There are some other additions to the stadium that have proved to be successful.
“Another great revenue maker is the Pepsi Zone and the Terrace Suite,” said Fisher.
Third year law student Preston Ougton said he grew up around sports and he knew he always wanted to go to law school.
“This is the first year the workshop has really connected with the community,” he said. “We hope the relationship continues to grow through the years.”
Randy Malesick, also a third year law student, said coming to the stadium is a great opportunity for the class.
“Building relationships with professional organizations gives us great insight into the profession,” he said.