by David Chapman
Staff Writer
More than 12,000 Jacksonville Jaguars tickets remain to be sold to avoid home TV blackouts, but Team Teal Commissioner Tony Boselli doesn’t believe 2011 will be a repeat of the 2009 season.
That year, seven of the eight regular season games were blacked out.
“I’m believing ‘no,’” Boselli said Monday following a meeting with the Meninak Club of Jacksonville.
Boselli visited the civic organization for the second year in a row to rally support for the team and discuss its importance throughout the city.
Boselli told the group of about 50 he hopes the ticket sales figure drops to about 9,000 a game, which was around the mark it reached last year before single-game and group sales filled in the gaps.
He said selling more than 3,000 tickets before the Sept. 11 home opener against the Tennessee Titans will be a “monumental task” but “very doable.”
The lockout caused by labor disputes between the players and owners, he said, turned a six- to seven-month sales window into a four-week endeavor because fans held out.
“People rightfully questioned buying tickets,” he said.
The team launched “half-pack” deals Saturday that will feature the final preseason game Sept. 1 against the St. Louis Rams and four regular season games.
Boselli said after the meeting that those sales should go a long way toward reducing the blackout number.
With football on the horizon, he again is making his rounds through the community to raise awareness and encourage team support.
It’s the lost traction that disappoints Boselli the most.
“That’s the disappointing thing,” Boselli said after the meeting. “We had so much momentum that we lost due to the lockout.”
Selling out the stadium for home games, he said, helps the team stay financially viable and helps erase the perception of the team moving to Los Angeles.
The rumblings have persisted for years and Boselli said there’s going to be a team there eventually that will move because of market size, ticket issues or stadium problems.
Because Jacksonville is a small market, he said, the rumors will remain, but eliminating blackouts will change such discussions.
“We have to make sure it’s a full stadium,” he said.
From a player perspective, he said, “You are critical to what happens on Sunday afternoons.”
Boselli, a former Jaguar, said he’s focusing on efforts to push for tickets to the home opener, which would help the momentum. It’s one of the games with lower sales, he said.
As for the team fans will see, Boselli said he still believes the team will be in contention for the division title and playoffs, although he said many in the media disagree.
He was asked why the Jaguars lack a large national media presence even though the team often outperforms others.
Boselli said there are teams that draw media regardless of their win-loss records because of their market size.
He said Jacksonville, as a smaller market, can take specific action to gain more of the spotlight.
“You have to win,” he said. “You just have to win.”
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