Jaguars President Mark Lamping said that the team "won't have any TV blackouts for the fourth consecutive season, even though they're currently behind last year's pace" of ticket sales, according to Vito Stellino of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Lamping "can make that guarantee" because NFL teams "can write a check" for 34% of the cost of the unsold non-premium seats to avoid blackouts. The Jaguars last season "sold all of the non-premium seats and didn’t have to buy any." Lamping said, "We’re not planning on doing that this year, either. ... Our goal last year was not to buy any tickets. That’s our goal this year and we’re going to do everything we possibly can to achieve that." While Lamping declined to give specifics on how far behind last year the Jaguars are currently, he said that it "was less than" 10% off the '12 figures. Lamping added that club seats are "tracking about where they were last year." Stellino notes while the team "doesn't usually sell them all unless the visiting team’s fans buy them, the premium seats don’t need to be sold to avoid a blackout." The luxury suites however "are selling better." Lamping said that the Jaguars "doubled the size of the ticket-selling department from last year in an attempt to boost sales." Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan said that it is "up to team executives to figure out how to sell more tickets in Jacksonville." Khan: "We've got to have the value proposition so the fans want to come out and support the team. I put it all on the leadership of the team. We’ve got to reach out to the fans (and say), 'Please come out and spend your hard-earned money on us'" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 7/25)
