Why Every Bulldog and Gator Needs To Become a Jaguars Fan

Recently, there had been some talk of moving the Georgia-Florida (sorry, Florida-Georgia...or, oh, wait...the Worlds Largest Outdoor Coc- okay, I'll stop) game out of Jacksonville and possibly into other venues for the future.

These talks have not gone through, and have spurred mixed emotions from Georgia and Florida fans a like.

Some of the potential possibilities discussed have been playing a home and away series for once. Another was to play a home and away every other year (ex: Jacksonville, Athens, Jacksonville, Gainesville).

Some even considered bringing the game to the Georgia Dome, which is bringing in huge bucks to the Atlanta area with its Chik-Fil-A kickoff games. The Georgia Dome has become such a successful venue, even talks of moving the Georgia-Georgia Tech into the dome for a Chik-Fil-A kickoff game was discussed.

However, tradition has continued to overpower these talks, and Georgia and Florida appear to be set on continuing their rivalry in Jacksonville.

While many Georgia fans agree the commute favors Florida fans, others say playing the game anywhere else would just not be the same.

I agree. There is nothing like seeing that 50-50 division or red and blue. After all, it is the World's Largest Outdoor...football party? Whatever.

But, there might just be an unavoidable problem on the horizon—one that seems to have been overlooked in late discussions.

That is, the influence the Jacksonville market is having on the revenue of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

The Jaguars are the main attraction in the stadium each year, however they are failing to sell tickets.

Yes, we are in a "recession", but the first Jaguar's game of the year brought in 40,000 fans (the stadium holds over 60,000).

Even in these tough economic times, other NFL teams are still selling out their stadiums and getting near capacity on Sundays.

The NFL's bottom dwellers are all experiencing multiple blackouts this year, because they just are not selling out their stadiums. Other teams have plenty of leverage to keep their teams in place. The Lions, for example, have plenty of security in Detroit despite the major economic downfall and an 0-16 campaign from a year ago.

The Jaguars may not be in the same boat. Their owner has expressed that the Jaguars are in Jacksonville to stay, but how can we be so sure?

They have already talked about possibly moving a few regular season games to Orlando, a bigger market, which has proven it's sports worthiness with the support of the Orlando Magic.

Some have even speculated the Jag's franchise moving to Los Angeles, which frankly is less likely considering California is packed full of NFL markets already (San Diego, San Francisco, and Oakland). Oakland might be a candidate for the Los Angeles franchise, considering their market is right across the bay from San Francisco's.

The Raiders were once the Los Angeles Raiders anyways.

Los Angeles has even already made stadium plans, and the likelihood of a team moving out there is growing.

Could it be the Jaguars franchise that gets the ticket? Considering their failures, they might just eventually have to move, despite the owners wishes.

What would a Jaguars move do to the Georgia-Florida series? Everything.

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium hosts the Gator Bowl, the ACC Championship (on occasion), the Jaguar's home games, and the Georgia-Florida game.

Other major venues bring in a tad more events, but also have concrete revenue coming from their NFL franchises.

For example, the Georgia Dome hosts eight Falcon's home games, the Chik-Fil-A kickoff classic, the SEC Championship game (annually), and the Chik-Fil-A bowl, and an annual HBCU game (this year's was Tennessee State and Florida A&M).

Venues like the Georgia Dome, which sits in a city that can barely fill up a Braves game (one of the most successful MLB franchises in the past 20 years), still has plenty of legs when it comes to stability.

The Falcons aren't going anywhere. But, the Jaguars might. If they ended up moving, Jacksonville Municipal stadium would become a dust bowl.

It would bring no revenue into the city at all. That could mean shutting the stadium down all together.

Bye bye Georgia-Florida game, go find a new home.

The Jaguars have been a solid playoff contender lately, yet still struggle to sell tickets. How bad are sales going to get if this team continues to suffer? If the Jag's can't win games, their franchise is almost guaranteed an eventual boot.

The Georgia-Florida series can't happen eight times a year to make up for the losses.

That series, would likely have to move too. What would this mean? All I'm saying is, Gator fans, start buying Jaguars tickets, or else prepare to make some trips up to Athens in the next decade or so.

Hmmm. Jaguars season tickets, or a Georgia-Florida game trip? I would choose the latter any day of the week.

But, I sure would hate it if the rivalry left Jacksonville. What a pickle.