Jaguars President Mark Lamping yesterday presented what he called "some not-so-good-news" at the team's fifth annual State of the Franchise event, according to a front-page piece by Ryan O'Halloran of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Fan interest had "steadily increased" from when Owner Shahid Khan bought the team in '12 through the end of the '15 season, as fans "believed the Jaguars were poised to improve" in '16. But the Jaguars "got worse, finishing 3-13." Analytics from the team showed that local fan penetration -- NFL fans who list the Jaguars as their favorite team -- fell from 40.4% (27th in the league) to 36.2% (28th). Local TV ratings fell from a 23.3 in '15 (22nd in the league) to 19.9 last year (24th). The average league local TV rating last year was a 26.1, down from 28.3 in '15. Lamping: "Way too big of a drop in local TV ratings. What you normally see in small markets across the NFL are TV ratings that are generally a lot higher than the average NFL rating." O'Halloran notes the portion of the Jaguars’ local revenue "represented by their annual game in London" fell from 12.4% to 11.1%. The Jaguars’ overall local revenue experienced an 8.6% increase. Each year at the State of the Franchise event, the Jaguars have "rolled out development plans for the stadium and surrounding area." But there was "definitely a more subdued feeling after Lamping’s presentation, like the business side has done about as much as it could to create more revenue without the benefit of a winning team." The Jaguars feel Exec VP/Football Operations Tom Coughlin’s arrival "helped the season-ticket renewal rate." Lamping "wouldn’t reveal the season-ticket renewal rate, saying only it was a 'sizable percentage ... actually very similar to last year'" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/9).
GO BIG OR GO HOME: In Jacksonville, David Bauerlein notes Khan unveiled an "ambitious plan" yesterday for a "massive development" next to EverBank Field. Renderings of the plan "show an 'exhibition space,' a hotel and spa, residences, a mixed-use entertainment area, a Veterans Park, three marinas, a kids zone, and a berth for the museum ship USS Adams." The plan by Khan's Iguana Investments Florida was "one of three submitted for consideration." The other proposals came from Presidium Group and Wess Holdings. Details of the proposals "were not released by the city" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/9).
