Swampland.com

SPF Daily Rating: Jaguars to Orlando?

Orlando Sentinel sports columnist, Mike Bianchi, made some big sports news today when he reported that the Jacksonville Jaguars might be looking to move one or two regular season games to Orlando.  

This is pretty big news on a couple of fronts.  It is an acknowledgement that the Jags need to embrace a regional marketing philosophy if they have any hope of long term success.  As this piece points out the Jaguars franchise has failed to understand that although the NFL is kind nationally, their region supports at least three to four college teams and two to three NFL teams ahead of them.

Without doubting the loyalty of the immediate Jacksonville market to the Jaguars, this team needs more than just that market to survive and thrive.

The second piece of news is that Swampland Sports was out in front of this story.  Two years ago, Bianchi did an interview with Swampland in which he was asked about the Jags and Orlando:

Both Jacksonville and Orlando have one pro team. Compare the two markets as overall sports markets? Does one have more upside over the other? What is one thing you would change about either of these markets from a sports perspective?

There is really no comparison because of the difference in the two sports franchises. Jacksonville has an NFL team, and the NFL is king in this country. Orlando has an NBA team, and the NBA doesn't compare as far as fan passion and interest. Orlando has more potential because of its demographics and population, but Jacksonville not only has the NFL, it has leadership that wants the city to be a sports town. 

It is interesting that Jacksonville’s stadium (formerly Alltel Stadium) was the site of two lopsided losses that have marked the decline of two of Florida’s NFL teams (Miami’s 62-7 loss to Jax and Jacksonville’s loss to the Titans that you mentioned in a recent column). We have been very hard on the Jaguars organization for allowing the team to decline in the market. Do you think the future of that franchise is in doubt?

Do I think the future of the Jacksonville Jaguars is in doubt? Not really. Because I think Jacksonville will do anything and everything to keep the Jaguars happy.

Well, the city of Jacksonville certainly wants to keep the Jaguars happy, but they seem to have limited resources to do so on their own.

The large and growing Orlando is definitely in play.  Pro Football Talk makes the point that the Bucs might have something to say about the Jags coming into Orlando as well.  The Bucs are on hard times themselves with fans starting to question their ownership's commitment to winning.

We will be watching how this tug of war for Orlando develops.

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