Anticipating that conditions will only allow for 25 percent capacity at TIAA Bank Field in the fall, the Jacksonville Jaguars informed fans and customers Friday that it would be crediting all existing orders for tickets this season. It will allow those interested in attending an opportunity to purchase tickets once an alternate seating chart is worked out with its partners.
“The health and safety of the entire Jaguars family, including our fans, remains our highest priority,” the Jaguars website reads. “Alongside our stadium partners and national and local healthcare expert, we have and will continue to work diligently to develop new protocols to ensure our team can return to the field with a clear focus on winning and our fans can return to the stadium with peace of mind.”
Jacksonville followed similar announcements made earlier this week by the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, who are following similar steps by wiping the slate clean for the year with a plan to offer prioritized ticket options once updated capacity and distancing requirements are determined. Most other NFL teams have opted to offer season ticket members the flexibility to cancel their season tickets for the season without penalty, but have not yet taken the step of voiding existing seats and orders to this point.
Their plan is to return all season tickets, cancelling the July scheduled payment for all accounts, and crediting all accounts with payments made to date. Season ticket holders can use those credited funds to purchase tickets this season once a seating chart is worked out, or apply the credit to their account payments due next year. Full refunds will also be available for those who request them.
The franchise expects it will introduce this new seating chart in August, with first priority going to tenured season ticket members and any remaining tickets to be made available for single-game sales if season ticket sales don’t account for the full capacity. If circumstances allow, the team will announce additional tickets available as capacity is allowed to increase.
Florida has become an epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, doubling its known positive case total since June 26 and approaching 250,000 known cases as of Friday afternoon, per tracking at worldometers.info. Duval County lags far behind other jurisdictions in the state, but still has more than 10,000 known positive test results by itself.