Jacksonville Jaguars announce ticket price increase in ‘State of the Franchise’

The Jacksonville Jaguars held their 2016 “State of the Franchise” address on Friday morning, an annual staple since Shad Khan took over as owner. The structure has generally been the same – Shad Khan reaffirming his commitment to Jacksonville followed by team president Mark Lamping announcing increases in local revenue and fan involvement.

This year, the Jaguars finally did something they probably should have done a while ago – announced a modest increase in ticket prices.

The 3.6% being announced is an effective average so it varies from seat to seat and whether or not one is a season ticket holder. The new system rewards the loyal fans, particularly if they renew before the specified date:

The naive way to view a ticket price increase is to be upset about it, but the Jaguars needed to get the price of tickets to a level commensurate with the rest of the league. The Jaguars consistently have the cheapest seats in the entire league and it’s led to opposing teams bringing a horde of fans to almost every home game.

Lamping said it perfectly in his presentation – let’s make away fans pay the same prices they would for their own home games if they want to come all the way to Jacksonville:

The price increase is structured such that it will target specifically the single-game tickets left over and the ones sold on secondary markets. The hope is there will be more Jaguars fans in the seats and Everbank Field will start to develop a legitimate home field advantage.