Could the Jacksonville Jaguars Move to L.A.?

November 29, 2011   AFC, AFC South, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars 300x195 Could the Jacksonville Jaguars Move to L.A.?Normally when a Breaking News story hits the NFL, we only hear a little of it then the rest comes out later. This morning, it’s all coming in at once with no need for other parts to come out later. First, Jack Del Rio, who has coached the Jacksonville Jaguars since 2003, is the first Head Coach to be fired this season. Del Rio is leaving Jacksonville after posting a 68-70 coaching record, long overdue if you ask me. The Jaguars extended General Manager Gene Smith 3 years all a while selling the Jacksonville Franchise. Del Rio really put himself in this position when he out of nowhere cut David Garrard, just days before their week 1 game against the Titans. I know a couple years back, Garrard was the beneficiary of a similar move that was made when the Jags released Bryon Leftwich and went with Garrard as the starter. This was a move that paid off as the Jaguars were able to make the playoffs in 2007 and win a playoff game as they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round but lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round.

Fast Forward to 2011 and the Jaguars are 3-8 and out of a job, now as questions will swirl all around about who their next Head Coach will be, there is a more better question to be asked. As I said the Jaguars were sold and they were sold to Shahid Khan, who originally tried to buy the St. Louis Rams after the passing of Georgia Frontiere but was blocked by Rams minority owner Stan Kroenke. The Jags have a new owner, who doesn’t have any ties to the Jacksonville community and could very well move the team to Los Angeles.

Former Owner, Wayne Weaver is standing by the fact that the Jaguars will be staying in Jacksonville during the press conference. The thing that makes it interesting is that EverBank, who sponsors the stadium where the Jaguars play, only signed a five year deal that began in 2010, leaving the 2014 season being the final year EverBank is the sponsor of the stadium. The Los Angeles stadium won’t be ready until 2013 at the earliest, one year before the EverBank sponsorship ends. So with new ownership in Jacksonville, the city of Jacksonville may be enjoying their last few years of having a football team before new ownership decides to head to Los Angeles and the Jacksonville Jaguars become the Los Angeles Jaguars.

Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist  for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com.

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Could the Jacksonville Jaguars Move to L.A.?
  • joe.attaboy

    The Jaguars are never leaving Jacksonville.

    1. The new owner is going to be putting up millions of his own money and, as Wayne said in the presser, is taking on a fairly high debt load to buy the team. Moving the team will incur expenses so great that he may never get a good return on his investment.

    2. Moving a team requires approval of the League and the ownership group. Roger Goodell has stated time and again that the NFL is committed to the Jacksonville franchise and to the team staying there.

    3. The lease agreement with the city is very favorable to the ownership and the team. It makes no sense to break that agreement for the specious chance that LA will make a better home for the Jaguars…especially considering that LA has already had and lost two NFL franchises.

    4. Despite what you think you see on TV, there is a strong fan base and community support for this team. Their biggest problem with ticket sales has been in the premium club seat sales, which don’t count toward TV blackouts. The local economy has been hit hard by the nation’s economic woes, and the chances are as the economy improves in the future, so will ticket sales.

    5. The fact that Everbank has only signed on for a “five-year” deal means absolutely nothing. Nearly all stadium-naming deals are typically five-year commitments. To create some specious relationship between the length of that deal and when this imaginary stadium is completed in LA is really disingenuous.

    6. Wayne Weaver had no ties to the Jacksonville community before he purchased the Jaguars. Weaver lived and ran his shoe business from Connecticut, and moved to the area after expressing interest in helping to fund the team as principal partner. Wayne and his family became a vital part of the community, especially in their charitable foundations. Mr. Kahn will hopefully continue in that direction. Weaver said today he’s already in the process of purchasing a home in town.

    There’s something long-time fans of this team are really sick of: people from outside our community telling the rest of the world why the Jaguars are leaving. They base their arguments on reasoning made completely from whole cloth, and it’s getting a bit old. We’re about to embark on changes in this team that we haven’t seen since the franchise began, and, frankly, I’m pretty excited about what the future holds. I know for a fact that a lot of people in this town believe this as well.

  • Brent

    I watched the game this past weekend. So many empty seats. Tick tock, tick tock……However strong the fan base is, it isnt strong enough. They gotta use tarps to cover seats! Any lease can be broken.

  • http://www.hardcoreracefans.com Mike Presley

    Thanks for the comments Joe and Brent. I’m excited for the Jaguars as well, I thought personally they got the Best QB in the Draft, Blaine Gabbert but messed it up by cutting David Garrard which sped up the process, I thought Gabbert should have been on the bench for at least two seasons(AKA The Aaron Rodgers treatment) but as long as Gabbert is kept by the new coaches he’ll become a great QB.

    About them moving to LA, well you know there will be talk about that until LA gets a team that is not named the Jaguars. I think it will be the Chargers or Raiders moving but Joe until LA gets a team, the Jaguars will always be mentioned as one of the teams going to LA.

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