If there was one thing that fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars made well known in 2019, it was their displeasure towards Shad Khan’s 38-90 record as owner after he made comments about the fanbase’s appetite for football. With all of the final results in as far as ticket sales go, it appears they’ve also expressed their displeasure by impacting attendance numbers as a recent study from Sports Business Daily shows that the Jags had the league’s steepest decline in their attendance average with an 8.7% drop.
Behind the Jags were the Oakland Raiders with a 7.6% drop and the Cincinnati Bengals with a 7% drop. However, when looking at the Jags’ and Bengals’ struggles on the field and the fiasco with Oakland having to turn back to the city to play another year at RingCentral Coliseum, the decline in attendance for each team makes sense. That’s not to say any of the three teams were alone either, as the league in general saw its lowest attendance figures in 15 years, averaging just 66,648 attendees per home game.
Meanwhile, the Jags averaged just under 60,000 attendees in their home games in 2019, per ESPN. That’s a number that ranked them at the No. 27 spot, with the Raiders, Tampa Bay Bucs, Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers behind them, respectively.
In addition to the Jags’ struggles on the field, there were many fans who complained about the stadium experience as there were long wait times to get into TIAA Bank Field. Some also have taken to social media to express their displeasure about the waiting process for concessions, too, while others have expressed the need for a stadium cover due to the Jags’ playing games in the sweltering Florida heat. All are issues Khan will need to better address sooner rather than later as the league seemingly puts a lot into stadium experience.
Khan’s decision to keep general manager Dave Caldwell and Doug Marrone also won’t help the Jags’ case with attendance. Simply put, there were more fans who didn’t like Khan’s decisions to keep both than those who did after how the last two seasons have gone. However, in the end, Khan’s patience with the front office could pay off if the two get back to the level of play they were at in 2017. If there isn’t improvement though, attendance could further be impacted and one can’t blame the fans after the support they’ve given Khan and the Jags since he’s become owner.