Jaguars fans in and around Jacksonville will not be able to see the team's two home preseason games on local TV -- neither live, nor on tape delay.
Because the games are not expected to sell out, they can't be aired live locally under the NFL's blackout rules. And the team's preseason broadcast partner -- Fox and CBS affiliate WTEV -- will not produce the games for a tape-delayed broadcast, the station's general manager said.
"The cost to produce the game is exactly the same whether it's in prime time or on tape delay at 11 or midnight," WTEV general manager Jeff Whitson said. "From a recouping-our-costs standpoint, advertisers are not going to get the same value and can't be charged the same. The economics of the game's whole plan change except for the expenses."
..........and so it begins. I have my tickets, but I wasn't going to make the preseason games anyway. Hopefully if the team does well, the back half of the schedule will sell out and get games on TV. I'll have a lengthier comment in tomorrow's Quick Bytes.
[Edit: Didn't see cuffs had already posted a FanShot on this. At some point we need to redo the layout so those are more visible.]
-John