Bengals Vs. Jaguars Likely A Blackout

As of last night, the Jacksonville Jaguars still need to sell a little over 8,000 tickets for the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The team has until 1:00 PM on Thursday to hit that mark, or if they're close they can has for a 24-hour extension. Asking for a 24-hour extension is usually a code word for "It won't be blacked out." Unless there was massive ticket movement last night and more today, I don't expect the team to ask for an extension. Unless Wayne Weaver buys up the remaining tickets, which he shouldn't, the team will be blacked out locally. I do believe there is a threshold at which remaining tickets to lift the blackout is cheaper than what is in the lease agreement with EverBank, but it's a lot less than 8,000. To my knowledge, if a game is blacked out locally, the Jaguars must pay EverBank (the stadium sponsor) $100,000. So, once tickets reach a certain point it's cheaper to buy them up at 34-cents on the dollar than pay $100,000. 8,000 tickets however, is well above that threshold.

So, get ready for a barrage of blackout talk. A barrage about how Jacksonville doesn't deserve a team. A barrage of Jacksonville moving to Los Angeles (despite the fact they're the hardest, by far, to move). The team has staved off blackouts in it's first two home games, but sitting at 1-3 with what looks like a lame duck coach and a rookie quarterback, it's a tough sell. I'll also spare you the lame joke we'll see for the next week: Jacksonville is having a "white out" against the Bengals so people will forgot about the blackout. *slaps knee* HARDY HAR HAR.

Update: Rich Jones of WOKV tweets that Anheuser-Busch is in talks with the Jaguars to buy up the remaining tickets so there will not be blackout.

Macky Weaver just told Jax Morning News they're working w/ Anheuser-Busch to buy the remaining tix and get Sunday's game on TV.