Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping recently provided an update on the progress being made towards the development of Lot J, and it certainly looks like things are trending upwards. According to him, the city and Jags organization are hoping to break ground on the project this spring as a $700 million development deal towards the project is close to being completed. However, as interesting as that news was, it was his comments about the Jags’ market that caught the attention of fans.
Lamping admitted the Jags haven’t done their part during an exchange about the team’s lack of success on the field and how it’s affected their local revenue.
“I can tell you there’s no way the organization can sit here today and look at their fans and say we’ve delivered the type of product on the field you’d expect,” Lamping said via the Florida Times-Union.
However, he added that he didn’t believe winning would be a silver bullet for the Jags’ revenue issues due to its market size, using the Jags’ 2018 season as an example. During that time, the team sold 52,000 season tickets after going to the AFC Championship in 2017.
“To sit back and say winning is going to cure everything — not in this market,” Lamping said.
Much like Shad Khan’s comments about Jacksonville not having enough of an “appetite” for football to get a true home game back from London, Lamping’s comments struck a chord with Jags fans for the simple fact that the Jags haven’t really shown consistency, and 2017 was Khan’s only winning season out of seven. In fact, Khan’s second best showing as an owner was during the 2019 season when the Jags won only six games.
Here are just a few of many reactions from the fans and media:
For a regime that came to us in the beginning w/ a commitment to listen and to seek feedback, they now appear to know it all and care even less.
Reality is that this too will get painted as the fans’ fault & the community’s fault and the Lampings of the world won’t bat an eye.
— Cap (@BoldCityCap) January 15, 2020
Winning won’t cure everything in this market?
2017: #Jaguars have only winning season of Khan/Lamping era
2018: #Jaguars home attendance spikes all the way to 15th in the NFL. This despite being the second smallest market.
What?
— Not in this Market (@jordandelugo) January 15, 2020
The Jaguars are profitable, but ownership is open to the idea of taking more home games away from fans and this city (and all the businesses that benefit) so they can make more money.
Let that sink in.
— Christopher Hong (@ChrisHongTU) January 15, 2020
And, for some reason, this profitable organization was able to negotiate an incentive deal with the mayor's office worth nearly quarter of a billion dollars, mostly in hard cash, directly from taxpayers for a series of developments aimed at firming up its bottom line even more. https://t.co/PVxefq2WA9
— Nate Monroe (@NateMonroeTU) January 15, 2020
Lamping *the president of the Jaguars organization* literally said a WINNING franchise can’t be successful in the Jacksonville market to the standard of the ownership.
They are 100% passing the buck to the community and fans. https://t.co/t6U3qqKR9g
— MadeByTim (@MadeByTim) January 15, 2020
i'm glad we at least have 2017 to prove these comments from lamping wrong.
— Blythe Brumleve (@blythebrum) January 15, 2020
I probably will because I'm a sucker and Minshew has potential, but if I was in a rough financial position, I'd stay home. With a bad football team , worsening fan experience, rising costs, as well as Khan and Lamping insulting us, I can certainly see why people won't renew. https://t.co/xLObSdaMXw
— New Year, New Mike (@KingM91) January 15, 2020
I will renew not because I believe in Khan and Lamping, but because we love the Jacksonville Jaguars. But I am waiting for the day when Khan (or his lunch man Lamping) actually acknowledge the fans for supporting the garbage they keep putting out there
— Sunil Joshi M.D. (@famallergyjax) January 15, 2020
It’s hardly fair for Lamping to base his comments off of one winning season out of seven — in fact, it’s not even necessarily based on sufficient evidence. When looking around the league, the Green Bay Packers are a prime example of the potential a small market can have if the product on the field is consistently competitive.
That said, it would be extremely worrisome if Lamping based the premise of his statement off the 2017 season alone. After all, the fans and the local market haven’t been given the chance to show how they’d react to two .500 seasons, let alone anything better.
Since Khan’s aforementioned comments in London, there has been a growing perception that the Jags’ higher ups are out of touch with the fanbase, and Lamping’s comments certainly won’t help the situation.That said, until there is more open and honest communication between the fans and organization, fans will likely continue to feel as though Khan is prioritizing other things over winning, and that doesn’t bode well for a good relationship.