Jag's owner Brian Radichel discusses what goes into finding a home for the team this summer.
Hey Jaguars fans!
By now you've no doubt read the exciting news about our head coach, Joel Ekroos. You've also seen a steady signing of players coming from the United States, and there's one more to go! The next step is to get a place to play. This is a critical part of the process - sports fans all over the world come to a venue to watch and cheer for their team in comfort and expecting a great show for the ticket price. The stage for this is the arena.
We want to be really optimistic about how many people are going to come out to watch the Jaguars, but realistic at the same time. How big is big enough? How many people will really come out watch a new sport? Can we generate the excitement in the stands to match the pace and excitement on the floor?
More importantly, how much will it cost? Can we sell enough tickets at a reasonable price to break even? None of the owners in the league expect that the first season will be a money-maker. It's more of a proof of concept - can we excite enough people about our sport to pay attention through the offseason to their players in both the US and abroad. Can we keep people's interest year-round? Can we drive interested kids and adults to leagues and camps in our home cities and grow the game we love?
Part of the allure of floorball is the accessibility of the game. It's incredibly affordable - sticks start at under $40. No other equipment is required except a ball. Hockey players of all levels take their floorball sticks with them and practice stickhandling. Plenty of videos exist on social media about floorball showing tricks and drills. Can we price our tickets to match that level of affordability and still pay for a great place to watch floorball?
How accessible is it? Is there plenty of parking? Are hotels close for the out of town teams and fans? And for the Jaguars specifically, is it worthy of hosting the first Troy Cup Finals?!? The league has announced the schedule and we will be the host city for the first ever NAFL Championship weekend. Can we get a venue that people are going to fill to cheer on their favorite teams and players?
We think we can! We have a number of options so far on the table in Fort Worth and are narrowing it down now. We hope to have an announcement very soon detailing the venue you will be able to come watch the team in. Stay tuned and more importantly, follow us on social media, and hit up the Jags' team store at shop.ftwjaguars.com and check out all the new cool team merch we've put out. Our support comes from you, the fans! Thanks for following, reading, sharing, and liking...we can't wait to show you the next exciting step in our league's development!
