Jets May Face Blackouts if PSLs Not Sold (NFL)

DP · May 14, 2010

SI.com Article

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Jets are confident they will sell their remaining personal seat licenses before the regular season begins, adding their fans do not have to worry about home games being blacked out on TV.
Owner Woody Johnson wouldn't reveal the number of remaining PSLs, but told The Associated Press on Thursday he feels good about the prospects of the Jets being able to sell out the new $1.6 billion Meadowlands Stadium.
"I'll put it this way: We're extremely confident that we'll sell all of the tickets," Johnson said, "and we're even more confident we will not have a blackout."
The New York Post reported Thursday that Johnson acknowledged the Jets have more than 10,000 remaining; Johnson says he hasn't ever responded to any specific number.
"That doesn't really do anything for us," Johnson said. "We've never released any numbers and I didn't release any numbers this time, either. I didn't respond to any of these."
NFL teams face local TV blackouts if they fail to sell out a particular game. The Jets, who open Sept. 13 against Baltimore, have not been blacked out since 1977.
Johnson said most of the unsold seats are located in the end zone sections of the lower bowl of the stadium that will be shared with the Giants. The Jets made the upper bowl of the new stadium -- approximately 28,000 seats -- available without fans having to purchase a PSL.
If there are any remaining unsold PSLs, the team will not make them available on a game-by-game basis because it would be unfair to existing PSL holders.
"Again, I'm confident we will sell them, but let's say we didn't, we're not going to sell those tickets," Johnson said. "We'll sell them on a season-ticket basis only."
The Jets have used an aggressive marketing campaign since last season with ads on the internet, television and radio to try to attract fans to purchase PSLs. The remaining PSLs range from $4,000 in some seats to as much as $30,000.
"We hope it's not a revelation to anyone that we have tickets to sell or that means they haven't seen our ads, and that means we're not spending our money in the right place," quipped Matt Higgins, the Jets' executive vice president for business operations. "I don't think any of us here are surprised. We said it would take every minute, every last day until opening game to sell out and we were going to give ourselves the time to do it."
Johnson said one of the biggest selling points for fans is the stadium itself, which could be the site of the 2014 Super Bowl if owners vote in favor of it later this month.
"People that visit the stadium and look at the seats, a large percentage of those buy," Johnson said. "They fall in love with it immediately. ... I think that's going to accelerate as we get closer to playing a game, and every day we get closer. I think that just builds our confidence that we will be able to sell this thing."
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/05/13/jets.psls.ap/index.html#ixzz0nxNIIgq8
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Jets May Face Blackouts if PSLs Not Sold (NFL)

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