Weaver to Follow Wilson's Footsteps?

This is about to go back up and that's not good for business.....via media.cnbc.com 

In a day and age where money has become more and more the focus of the business that is the NFL, the room for patience has been rented out. It has been reported through multiple news outlets that in an August 19th meeting between club owners in Chicago, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the owners with bad news. 12 teams were facing blackout situations.That's just over a third of the league.

According to this Sports Business Journal article, only 3 teams-the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, and St. Louis Rams-faced blackouts in 2008. Combined, these teams only had 9 games blacked out. For the NFL business model, this was a problem, yet it does not compare to the problem that 2009 will soon show the league. Teams handle the situation in different ways, some ignoring it, some buying high-profile players with the hopes that their names and the victorys they are sure to bring will sell more tickets. Others cut spending. One man, however, had a unique idea.

Over the years, there have been talks of the Buffalo Bills possibly relocating. The economy has not been friendly and owner Ralph Wilson knew ticket sales would suffer even more. He got creative. He announced that the Bills would start to annually play a game in Toronto, Canada. Some people were outraged, well most people were outraged. Wilson was simply thinking ahead as he has done so many times in the past. This was a move to further enlarge the fan-base. A fan-base that might return the favor in the future by stopping by Buffalo once in a while and helping with ticket sales.

Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver currently finds his NFL business in an abysmal situation. He has payed for free agents, he has covered seats, he has dropped ticket prices to prices that are lower than college games (which is arguably an inferior product). He has seen a new franchise record. The lowest attendance of any Jaguars game in history with an embarrassing 42,177 people. Something has to be done and after last seasons drop from prominence in the national fans mind, things are not looking up for ticket sales. We all know that winning cures everything but it's not guaranteed. Could Weaver follow Wilson's footsteps? He already has by refusing to move the team. Will he consider a game abroad?

In an early august interview with the Times Union, Weaver had this to say about the 2009 ticket sales when asked if he was concerned.

"I’m concerned. But you have to realize we’re in an unusual economy that most of us have never gone through.

"Unfortunately, we’re going to have to blackout all of our (home) games and that’s not something I’m proud of.  I understand that Jacksonville has been hurt more than most cities. It’s clearly one of the toughest economies of all the Florida cities."

The Jaguars situation is seemingly similar. The economy is rougher than a carpenters palm. The Jaguars 2008 season, along with the Bills, was everything but successful and exciting and while both teams have "glory days" to look back on, neither one seems to have a large enough fan-base believing in the here and now enough to buy up the tickets. Can Weaver get even more creative than the flex packs? Can he hold on long enough for fans to get childishly excited over their team?

Here is a quote I want you to mull over. In an article released over a year ago by the Associate Press on NFL.com, Erie County Executive Chris Collins commented on the Bills' situation. (The Bills are located in Erie County and are leased there until 2012.)

"We grow or we die," Collins said, "and I don't want to be sitting here three years from now negotiating with the Bills and pointing to three more years of decline."

The economy has only worsened and ticket sales have followed suit. I propose to you this, Jaguars fans. If 4 or more games are blacked out in 2009, Weaver should let the Jaguars host a game in London. The people up there are crazy for their sports and have only just gotten a taste of true, talented American Football. Let's take advantage of the "newness". Let's be one of the teams in 2010 that plays in London. Wayne can give them a team to get behind. With the way that new GM Gene Smith has drafted this year, we all know that the future is bright. The problem is that the present has ticket sales issues. For one game, we could take the burden away, which may increase attendance at other games, while simultaneously enlarging our fan base. If nothing else, it gives the Jaguars more media coverage. What do they say? All press is good press.

The only downside is that the Jaguars would likely become a candidate to move to London-permanently. In a recent NFL.com chat, Commissioner Roger Goodell responded to a question regarding London. I do not have a link or quote, because I couldn't locate the article. I'll give you as close as I can.

Goodell was asked by an enthusiastic London fan about the possibilities of an NFL team in London. Goodell said that he saw it was a very real possibility within the next ten years.

L.A. is now the smaller of possibilities. Should the Jaguars test London with hopes that fans would realize how real the possibility of no more Jaguars is? It could sell tickets. Good luck, Weaver.

-Brandon Clark