The Jacksonville Jaguars’ small market has been a point of contention for Jaguars fans for years, and this year looks to be no different.
Fox Sports recently tweeted a ranking of top cities for NFL fans that got football fans talking, and Jacksonville was ranked next to last right behind Houston and just above Nashville, two cities containing teams from the AFC South.
Though it’s true that there’s more limited interest in the franchise, that’s not to say there aren’t a lot of Jaguars fans — and there may be more to blame than initially meets the eye. Most notably, there’s the fact that the state of Florida is inundated with big-name football teams both in the NFL and at the collegiate level. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins provide a challenge in growing a fanbase for the comparatively young team in Jacksonville, while the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers draw die-hard fans in much of the rest of the south.
Due to these limiting factors, the Jaguars are often (and inaccurately) called out for attendance issues, poor television ratings and a perceived lack of general fan interest.
Almost a day later, Fox Sports revealed that the analysis came from Wallethub, which took into consideration the performance of each franchise’s accessibility and engagement amongst other notable factors, but it’s worth noting Jags fans have endured a lot of disappointment over the years. Considering this, I’m willing to bet that the statistics don’t accurately reflect the passionate fan base that we’ve known it to be here at Jags Wire
