With approximately 8,000 tickets remaining, Sunday's home opener between the Jaguars and Buffalo Bills will not be televised in the Jacksonville area, according to NFL guidelines. The game would have had to be sold out at 1:00 p.m. today to avoid the blackout.
"We are disappointed that many of our fans will not get to see our home opener," said Jaguars senior vice president /sales and marketing Dan Connell. "So we encourage them to come to the stadium and be there in person to experience the first home game under Jack Del Rio."
For fans wishing to see the game, tickets can still be purchased online at jaguars.com, by calling (904) 633-2000 or at the ALLTEL Stadium Ticket Office. The Jaguars Ticket Office will be open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Fans will still be able to listen to the game live on WOKV (690 AM) and WKQL (96.9 FM) radio. The Jaguars radio broadcasts feature Brian Sexton in his ninth season handling play-by-play, with former Jaguar Jeff Lageman adding analysis. Ryan Elijah of WAWS-TV and WTEV-TV is the field reporter. The game day radio broadcast begins at 10:00 a.m. At 11:30, the Coggin Pregame Show will air on WTEV-TV 47.
Secondary markets are included in the blackout area, therefore television stations in Gainesville, Daytona Beach, Orlando and Savannah, Ga. will not be allowed to air the game. The blackout radius is signal penetration within 75 miles of the home city. In addition, individuals as well as sports bars and other business establishments who are located within the blackout area are not allowed to show the game via satellite or any other means. The signals for network games are scrambled anyway, but any establishment showing a blacked out game in the blackout area will be in violation of the Unites States Copyright and Communications Act and will be liable for significant damages. Television stations are not allowed to show any highlights of a game while that game is in progress, even in normal news programming. Once the game ends, the usual six-minute limit of "same day" footage applies.
This will be just the fifth regular-season blackout for the Jaguars. Three 2001 games (Cleveland, Buffalo and Kansas City) and the 2002 season finale vs. Tennessee have been blacked out locally.
On Sunday, the Jaguars will have three additional ticket windows at Gate 2 for cash-only sales. The game-day ticket office (located between Gates 2 and 3) will open at 10:00 a.m., and to avoid potential long lines, fans are encouraged to arrive early to purchase or pick up tickets. Ticket prices that are still available are $20, $30, $45, $65, $75, $95 and Touchdown Club seats.
