The NFL has changed its blackout policies, and teams that struggle to draw sell outs must now decide what percentage of attendance at their home stadiums will be the new bar for blackouts.
While some have decided, others have not, including the Jacksonville Jaguars. Alfie Crow, editor of Big Cat Country, wrote a post exploring this dilemma that the team faces, and he has concluded that the Jaguars would be better off not lowering their blackout number to the new minimum of 85 percent.
"It would make sense for the team to drop it to say 95 percent or so, but keeping it at the current level should be in the Jaguars interests. Not to mention the stigma already unfairly hanging over the team with blackouts, it would just be inviting in a swarm of negative PR."
Some teams, such as the San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts, are keeping the blackout level at 100 percent capacity in non-premium seating, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first to announce that they would be following the new minimum of 85 percent.
The Jaguars ranked 24th in the league in attendance in 2011 with an average capacity of 92.8 percent.
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