Jacksonville Jaguars vs San Francisco 49ers
Match scheduled:
Date: 29-11-2009
Time:21:05 until 00:35
Week 12 :: NFL Regular Season 2009/2010
In 1992, the NFL announced that it would add two new teams, originally in time for the 1993 season. The league had not expanded since the 1976 season with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers; with the sport growing the NFL felt the time was right to add additional franchises. Five cities were ultimately chosen as finalists for the two new teams: Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jacksonville. From the beginning, Charlotte and St. Louis were considered the heavy favorites, with Baltimore also a strong possibility. Though not as strong a bid, Memphis was still considered an outside possibility, as the NFL did not have a presence in the area.
For many reasons, Jacksonville was considered the darkest horse in the field. Florida already had two NFL teams: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who played about a four-hour ride away, and the Miami Dolphins. Any expansion team would also have to compete with Florida's three major college football teams — Florida State, Florida and Miami - and the Georgia Bulldogs. Jacksonville was also the smallest television market in the running and the only city not ranked in the top 50 Nielsen markets.
However, the biggest potential obstacle for the Jacksonville bid was nonstop turmoil and conflict surrounding the potential ownership group. It had formed even before the NFL announced its intentions to expand, in 1989. The group called itself Touchdown Jacksonville! and placed its formal application with the NFL in 1991. The original ownership group included future Governor Jeb Bush and Jacksonville developer and political kingmaker Tom Petway. In 1991 this group confidently announced that it would call its team the Jacksonville Jaguars. After some defections and mutinies, the group came to be led by J. Wayne Weaver, shoe magnate and founder of Nine West.
From the time Touchdown Jacksonville! came to being, it faced several challenges. In April 1993, the NFL indicated to Jacksonville officials that additional renovations to the Gator Bowl would be needed.[1] After several weeks of negotiations, and at least one breakdown, an agreement was reached that capped the city's liability for construction and was sent to the City Council for approval. However, on on July 21, 1993, the Council failed to approve the financing package, dooming the bid. Deposits on season tickets were refunded, and Touchdown Jacksonville!'s offices were shuttered.[2]
Largely due to being underwhelmed by the remaining suitors, the NFL and others encouraged Jacksonville interests to revisit the issue and resurrect their bid. About a month later negotiations between the city and Touchdown Jacksonville! resumed, and a slightly revised aid package was approved by a solid majority of the City Council. Officially back in the race, Jacksonville officials were energized, indicated by a drive to sell club seats that resulted in over 10,000 seats being sold in 10 days. The Jaguars also gained a high-profile investor when former NFL star player Deron Cherry signed on as a limited partner.
After Charlotte was unanimously granted the 29th franchise on November 1, the NFL announced they would name the 30th franchise on or before November 30, 1993. By this time, conventional wisdom was that St. Louis would get the 30th franchise. In fact, T-shirts of the "St. Louis Stallions" (the proposed new team name) briefly went on sale at some St. Louis area sporting goods shops. However, it was not meant to be.
At 4:12 p.m. (EST) on the afternoon of November 30, Jacksonville was announced as the winning franchise.[1] The next evening, 25,000 fans celebrated at the Gator Bowl as season ticket sales were kicked off. Within ten days, the Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville's daily newspaper) announced sales had passed the 55,000 seat mark (Incidentally, the three other finalists all eventually became the home of a relocated franchise: the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed the Baltimore Ravens and Memphis would briefly serve as the home of the former Houston Oilers in 1996 before the team moved into its new stadium in Nashville and was renamed the Tennessee Titans).
After the Gator Bowl game on December 31, 1993 the old stadium was essentially demolished and replaced with a reinforced concrete superstructure. All that remained of the old stadium was the west upper concourse and a portion of the ramping system. To accomodate construction, the 1994 and 1995 games of "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" were split between the home fields of Florida and Georgia, and the 1994 Gator Bowl was played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. The new Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (known as Alltel Stadium from 1997–2006) opened on August 18, 1995 with a preseason game against the St. Louis Rams.
