As noted in this earlier post, the city of Jacksonville has a tough act to follow in hosting the 2005 Super Bowl. With only a fraction of the facilities that Houston used in hosting the 2004 Super Bowl, Jacksonville officials are scrambling to accomodate the NFL’s gargantuan requirements for putting on the biggest spectacle in U.S. professional sports.
However, despite the perk of hosting the Super Bowl, Professor Sauer observes that Jacksonville is not even a sure bet to keep its NFL team. Because of declining ticket sales, Jacksonville’s ownership is artifically reducing the number of seats in the team’s stadium. Professor Sauer notes:
In an open system of leagues, teams from smaller burgs occasionally get good, generate enthusiasm, and go on a run. In the US system of league monopolies, a town essentially gets a short term lease on a team, then it gets auctioned off to the next town starved for the sport.