President: Jaguars 'making progress' in growth

'State of Franchise' address includes details on upgrades planned for club seats

Mark Lamping used graphics to explain revenue, ratings and other metrics of the Jaguars.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jaguars president Mark Lamping broke down the team's revenue growth over the last year, pointing to positives that show the team is "making progress" to become a long-term, stable NFL franchise during Tuesday's "State of the Franchise" address.

The Jaguars' ticket revenue growth was second in the NFL last season, Lamping said, trailing only the San Francisco 49ers, who moved into a new stadium last season.

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The Jaguars also moved closer to the NFL average in tickets sold per game, Lamping said. The Jaguars sold 62,692 tickets per game. The NFL average is 68,488 tickets per game.

"We were the fourth-fastest growing team in the NFL this year in terms of tickets sold," Lamping said.

Lamping said the Jaguars' local revenue was up just under 24 percent from 2013 to 2014. Local revenue comes from ticketing revenue (about 60 percent), sponsorships (33 percent) and gameday purchases (5.9 percent).

"If you look at the teams that are the most valuable, the most profitable, the most stable -- and that's our goal right now is stability -- you will find that it's directly related to the amount of local revenue they generate and how that compares to the other 32 member NFL clubs," Lamping said. "We're nowhere near where we need to be, but we're clearly making progress."

Lamping said the average ticket price went up 6.4 percent in 2014 without an across the board price increase, partly because of new higher-priced products the team introduced that were well-received by fans. Those products included kickoff club tables, VIP field club seats, spa cabanas, and the Clevelander deck terrace cabanas and bar rails.

Lamping pointed out that although the average ticket price increased, the Jaguars are still near the bottom of the league.

The Jaguars and owner Shad Khan have invested a lot in improving the in-game experience for fans, Lamping said, including the north and south end zone improvements and the addition of the video boards that drew national attention for the team and the city.

"In every category that the NFL surveys among season ticket holders, we either ranked first, second or fourth in every category (on in-game experience)," Lamping said. "If nothing else, we took away from this that the strategy to make EverBank Field a great place is a really good recipe to have a stable NFL franchise in Jacksonville for a long time to come."

More additions will be coming for the 2015 season, including adding more kickoff club tables and rail seating in the south end zone, Lamping said.

"We wanted the fans to come here, Jacksonville fans, visiting fans (and) leave with 'Wow! That was great!' Khan said. "I think we changed the experience, and changed people's image of Jacksonville. Anybody who was here left with 'Oh wow, that was a good experience.'"

Lamping also pointed out the positive community involvement the team continues to have in Jacksonville. The Jaguars Foundation distributed over $1.7 million to 166 nonprofit organizations in and around Jacksonville. And fans raised over $140,000 with the 50/50 raffle that was implemented at home games this season.

Upgrading the club seats

The Jaguars are also eagerly awaiting possible approval from the state legislature of funds that would go toward redesigning the stadium's club seating area, Lamping said. Those changes include a sponsorship of the Touchdown Clubs by US Assure, a partnership that was announced Monday. 

The grand plan includes taking out some seats in both sides of the club section to create open-air decks in upper and lower club levels.

But making the changes happen faces a huge hurdle Thursday when a state committee meets to determine which stadiums, if any, will receive state funding.

"If this committee chooses not to make that allocation, then we have got to come up with a different plan. But right now we are focused on the plan that has been laid out for well over a year," Lamping said.

The plan also includes a revamped indoor area with a view out into the stadium through glass walls. The renovations would remove 3,144 seats from the club sections, but add 400 bar rail seats similar to those added last year, meaning 2,744 fewer seats for the total capacity of the stadium.

"All in all you're turning a 20-year-old stadium into something that's modern and new again," said Rick Catlett, president of Gator Bowl Sports. "I think the fans will respond to that."

Some college football fans might be concerned at prices going up because of the need for more temporary seating to be brought in for games, including Florida-Georgia.

Last year, the city had to bring in 12,565 temporary seats for the Florida-Georgia game. The proposed club section changes could bring that number to 15,309.

Jacksonville Sports and Entertainment director Dave Herrell said the cost of those new seats last year was over $1.6 million. That cost would go up for additional seats.

"For Florida-Georgia, obviously, we do have an incremental cost because we do have to put in the temporary seating," Herrell said. "So certainly we are going to have to invest in that game. It is absolutely the most important event that we do on an annual basis, an annual tradition since 1933 and we will continue to make that investment."

But Catlett said that cost shouldn't have an impact on fans' wallets.

"We don't currently expect to see our prices increase," Catlett said. 

The proposed changes to the club area would continue an upgrade in fan experience the Jaguars began last year. Lamping said it would also help attract major events like the city has seen recently.

"If you're an events rights holder, why wouldn't you want to come to Jacksonville, Florida," Herrell said. "If you look at what's happening in the momentum that we have?"

But if the state funding doesn't happen, Lamping said the team will have to reevaluate the plan for the renovations.

"If there's going to be major improvements to EverBank Field, it's either going to be done by the city of Jacksonville or done by the city of Jacksonville in partnership with the Jaguars or other tenants," Lamping said.

Lamping said state funding is awarded to the Jaguars, the renovations would begin after the 2015 Jaguars season and be complete by the beginning of the 2016 season. 


About the Authors:

Kent Justice co-anchors News4Jax's 5 p.m., 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts weeknights and reports on government and politics. He also hosts "This Week in Jacksonville," Channel 4's hot topics and politics public affairs show each Sunday morning at 9 a.m.