At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

[r8rh8rmike]

10.16.2009 3:36 pm
At least 20,000 empty seats to greet Rams and Jags
By Bill Coats
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


If you think the St. Louis Rams have been struggling to sell out games at the Edward Jones Dome, pity the poor Jacksonville Jaguars. On Sunday when the winless Rams visit, at least 20,000 of the 66,000 seats at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium are expected to be empty.

The Jags’ first two home games were against defending division champs Arizona and Tennessee. Just 46,520 showed up Sept. 9 for the home opener vs. the Cardinals; 49,104 watched the Jags knock off the Titans. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged last month the possibility that the Jaguars might not sell out any of their eight home games this season.

Notes & quotes:

*Coach Steve Spagnuolo said that veteran Adam Goldberg would get his third start in a row at RT but that rookie Jason Smith also would be worked in. Smith has been out with a knee injury since late in the first half of the Week 2 game at Washington.

*Rookie Bradley Fletcher will make his second successive start at CB in the spot previously held by Jonathan Wade.

*With DT Gary Gibson (ankle) out for the season, LaJuan Ramsey is expected to start alongside Clifton Ryan.

*Despite the cool weather and occasional drizzle, the Rams practiced outside Friday.

*DEs Leonard Little and C.J. Ah You missed practice because of illness. Spagnuolo said he expected them to ready by Sunday.

*The week’s final injury report listed S James Butler (knee) and WR Ruvell Martin (hamstring) as doubtful; S Anthony Smith (Achilles’ tendon) as questionable; and QB Kyle Boller (concussion) as probable.

All for now . . .

[r8rh8rmike]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

I guess losing to the Rams is more than the fans in Jacksonville can take.

[RAMFANRAIDERHATER]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Sprinkle those 20,000 empty seats with Rams fans and it would be like a Jags/Rams game in St. Louis. ;)

[bigredman]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

haha lol, I guess you can also say that Crowd noise, or Lack there of, will not be a problem for the Rams.

However the sound of crickets will be deafening!

[RamsFan16]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

This just adds more reason why the Jaguars will probably move to LA, and not the Rams.

We haven't EVER been that short of tickets, we're usually short 1,000, not that times 20.

[ScottD413]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Teams are just going to keep moving around the country now. Jacksonville will be next, then 2-3 years from now it'll be somebody else, and the cycle will continue like that.

It's sad because when these teams move, guess who's going to be paying for the stadiums...the taxpayers who are already strapped for cash to begin with!

[TealandBlack]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

It's one thing to diss a team. That's fine. Everyone does it. But leave the fan base out of the picture, especially ours. We have very dedicated fans here in Jacksonville, Fl, but the economy's downfall has hurt many, many fans budgets. Around town, everyone loves the team, but cannot afford to go at this point in the season.

NFL.com, ESPN, out of town Radio, Newspapers, etc, wont tell you that, because they blame the team's lack of success as the reason, when in reality it isn't. There are countless numbers of fans who tailgate outside of the stadium to support the team, because they can't buy tickets... diss the team, but leave the fan base out of this. There's good people, fans, here who can't afford tickets right now.

[RamsFan16]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

It's one thing to diss a team. That's fine. Everyone does it. But leave the fan base out of the picture, especially ours. We have very dedicated fans here in Jacksonville, Fl, but the economy's downfall has hurt many, many fans budgets. Around town, everyone loves the team, but cannot afford to go at this point in the season.

NFL.com, ESPN, out of town Radio, Newspapers, etc, wont tell you that, because they blame the team's lack of success as the reason, when in reality it isn't. There are countless numbers of fans who tailgate outside of the stadium to support the team, because they can't buy tickets... diss the team, but leave the fan base out of this. There's good people, fans, here who can't afford tickets right now.

I think we have the right to talk. Our fans constantly get dogged on, by the media and players. We've constantly got the worst rated fan base and have NEVER left 20,000 seats open. The economy is bad yes, but that bad? Come on, I recently drove (last weekend) from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to St. Louis for the Rams vs Vikings games, and stayed two nights. I'm also a college student.

I'm not saying your fans aren't good people, I'm saying it sounds like your "fans" aren't really, fans.

[Ramblin` Ram]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

it takes longer than both the Jags and the Rams have been in their current location to build a fanbase to the point that fans will turn up in their masses regardless of the results.. with other struggling teams like the Browns,Lions etc..they have fans whose parents,grandparents and so on were fans of those teams..its tradition they following aswell as their current players etc..

it is a shame to see so many empty seats in Jacksonville but the fans that do show up should be respected for showing up..they have good fans like the Rams have good fans..just neither has as many who show up at games as other teams do, for multiple reasons...often of the owners doing.

[ScottD413]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

It's one thing to diss a team. That's fine. Everyone does it. But leave the fan base out of the picture, especially ours. We have very dedicated fans here in Jacksonville, Fl, but the economy's downfall has hurt many, many fans budgets. Around town, everyone loves the team, but cannot afford to go at this point in the season.

NFL.com, ESPN, out of town Radio, Newspapers, etc, wont tell you that, because they blame the team's lack of success as the reason, when in reality it isn't. There are countless numbers of fans who tailgate outside of the stadium to support the team, because they can't buy tickets... diss the team, but leave the fan base out of this. There's good people, fans, here who can't afford tickets right now.

I hear ya. The NFL and the media don't take into account just how serious this recession has been on the working class. They seem to think we have a ton of money laying around and were just too stingy to spend it

The economy is bad yes, but that bad? Come on, I recently drove (last weekend) from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to St. Louis for the Rams vs Vikings games, and stayed two nights. I'm also a college student.

Yeah exactly. YOU'RE A COLLEGE STUDENT. Of course you have money to burn. You aren't out in the real world yet. Wait until you have a house and a wife and a couple of kids to support! The economy isn't that bad??? It's the biggest recession since the great depression! No offense man, but a 20 year old has no clue how the world works.

Your post is completely ignorant.

[RamsFan16]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Yeah my post is completely ignorant *rolls eyes* considering I go to school full time and work part-time. Excuse me for saving money here and there to go support my team.

Whatever, man.

[ScottD413]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Yeah my post is completely ignorant *rolls eyes* considering I go to school full time and work part-time. Excuse me for saving money here and there to go support my team.

Whatever, man.

My point is still valid. You're a student. You don't have a family to support. and I assume since you're a 20 year old student that you don't have your own home to maintain or pay a mortgage on either.

I'm not trying to rip you, but when you say that this recession is no big deal that shows you're ignorance. I'm sorry, but it really does.

[r8rh8rmike]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

There is no doubt that the economy is a big part of those 20,000 expected empty seats in Jacksonville, but I'm sure fan apathy is too. I wonder how many will be season ticket holder no-shows?

Nobody here is making fun of people who can't support the Jags because times are tough, but we are giving some jabs to the part of the fanbase that aren't showing up because the product on the field is struggling.

The recession has hit me very hard, but like 16, I did without here, scrimped there, and managed to save enough money to travel to St. Louis to watch the Rams. I'm already cutting expenses and finding ways to try and save for the game in Phoenix this year.

If it makes you feel any better TealandBlack, any empty seats in St. Louis are quickly snatched up by opposing fans who make plenty of noise. At least you know visitors won't be disrupting your offense like they do in EJD.

[PeoriaRam]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Jacksonville was struggling off the field before the economy went to pot. Ultimately, its troublesome when the local college team is more popular than the local NFL team.

[r8rh8rmike]

Re: At Least 20,000 Empty Seats To Greet Rams And Jags

Jacksonville was struggling off the field before the economy went to pot. Ultimately, its troublesome when the local college team is more popular than the local NFL team.

It is interesting to see the college stadiums packed to the brim with fans. I guess it's all about priorities.