The Jaguars removed tarps from sections at EverBank Field for yesterday's game against the Bills, but team President Mark Lamping said that the franchise worked carefully to keep the tarps' sponsors "in the fold during playoff exposure," according to Drew Dixon of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Lamping: "We had to reach out to those sponsors who had the rights to have their logos on those tarps. Those entities were very quick to support Jaguar fans and agreed that we could take the tarps down, which means they also lost some of their advertising inventory and we provided them some other benefits." The Jaguars immediately "sought other arrangements" to keep Navy Mutual and the Florida DOT -- the tarp sponsors -- "as partners." Lamping said that it "did not involve direct financial compensation, but increased presence in the marketing plan for both sponsors." Lamping: "We gave up that advertising inventory and replaced it with other advertising inventory that could have been sold to somebody else." He added, "This was not a financial windfall by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, it was just the opposite of that. But it was something we were very happy to do" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/6). Lamping noted all of the potential "economic benefits" the Jaguars could experience from hosting a playoff game. The TIMES-UNION's Dixon noted there will be a "significant increase in ticket sales" for the '18 in both "season ticket renewals and new season ticket customers." Sponsorships and partnerships will "increase in terms of the big corporate spending on the team and increased demands by companies seeking marketing placement associated with the team." Merchandise sales such as shirts, hats, etc., have "already spiked and are expected to continue to increase following the season." Lamping "stopped short of saying ticket price hikes are a definite" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/7).
