04/19/24
August 16, 2002
The Jacksonville-based Winn Dixie has agreed to buy all unsold Jaguars tickets this season to prevent TV blackouts. The commitment, which may cost the company as much as $1.4 million, is only the second season-long ticket-buying deal in NFL history.
On another note, Winn-Dixie announced that company raises and christmas bonuses have been cancelled for 2002. Seriously, very cool of Winn-Dixie to take care of its fans this season. I'm guessing it was pretty much a given that most games would have been blacked out if both sides moved so quick to put an agreement together.
posted by rosey8810 at 08:59 AM on August 16, 2002
I don't understand that rule either. Imagine if baseball had to do that, they'd never get a game on TV until the all star game! Why can't they just be creative and keep the camera on the field and the lower portion of the stadium if looks are so important. Blacking out a team really hurts its revenue stream doesn't it? That would make things even tougher for small market teams when they have to go up against large market teams that will automatically sell out every game and end up with more revenue.
posted by insomnyuk at 09:23 AM on August 16, 2002
I may be glossing over the details a bit, but the City of San Diego buys Chargers tickets if the Chargers fail to sell a certain amount of tickets per game. It's been in the lease agreement for the last few years. So basically, the taxpayers are buying the tickets. Even worse, the tickets bought by the City do not go towards lifting the blackout.
posted by LionIndex at 10:23 AM on August 16, 2002
The blackout rule is silly. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember the Dolphins playing the Bills in the playoffs and the television stations were begging people to buy tickets so the game wouldn't be blacked out (says a little something about South Florida's fairweather fans)
posted by owillis at 11:34 AM on August 16, 2002
Hamilton County has a similiar agreement with the Bengals that SD has with the chargers.
posted by mick at 12:09 PM on August 16, 2002
owillis: I called to get tickets to that game; IIRC, the cheapest available tickets were eighty-five bucks. Serves them right it didn't sell out. FWIW, I wouldn't so much call South Floridians fair-weather fans- the Dolphins, Hurricanes, and Marlins have all had problems selling tickets even when all three sports have been in championship seasons. Ditto the Heat in near-championship seasons. South Floridians just aren't terribly interested in sports, period.
posted by tieguy at 02:13 PM on August 16, 2002
When I was in college I cursed the Wegmans franchise to deaf heaven for buying out Bills games, causing me to miss countless Patriots games during the Parcells era.
posted by yerfatma at 02:57 PM on August 16, 2002
tieguuy: I certainly wouldn't pay $85 to see the Dolphins, but I would for the 'Skins. I know, I'm a sucker (aka The Danny's Bitch). When I lived in South Florida, I always got the feeling of people jumping on the bandwagon - Dolphins playoff, Heat playoff, Marlins World Series - and then off when they crash and burn. As opposed to LA where interest in the Lakers was nil until they won the championship and it died right after. I'm just more respectful of fans of teams like the Red Sox, Tampa Bay Bucs, AZ Cardinals who stick through thick and thin.
posted by owillis at 02:46 AM on August 17, 2002
The NFL blackout rule is such a racket. I'm happy as a Jags fan that the team won't have numerous blackouts this year, which was likely, because it could easily become a habit around here. It's debateable whether Jacksonville, at only 1 million people, is a big enough city to support an NFL franchise. However, it's funny that an artificial rule about blackouts has become so much of an obstacle that a company would pay so much to get around it.