The Jacksonville Experiment is over for the ACC. On Wednesday, the league announced that it would be leaving Jax in favor of a rotating Championship game played in Tampa (2008 and 2009) and Charlotte (2010 and 2011).
Jacksonville lost the game as "announced attendance" declined from 72,749 to 62,850 to 53,212 over three years there. "Estimates of the actual crowds in 2006 and '07 were at least several thousand below the announced figures." (Source: Charlotte Observer)
Of course, the image above does the best job of giving you some idea of what the crowd was REALLY like in Jacksonville this season. It also gives you better insight into why Boston College gets shunned for bowls every year. (ht - Walt Geiger)
Fanblogs.com suggests the ACC move its game to campuses. It's really hard to argue this idea given that tiny Bobby Dodd Stadium could've played host to the 2006 title game, and the fans in attendance would've still had room to spread out and get comfortable.
I think the game leaving Jacksonville frees up that city to make a push for the SEC Title game. If UGA increases the frequency of our attendance at the Georgia Dome, other members of the conference may push for the game to start a rotating location similar to what the Big 12 does.
See Also
-- ACC leaves Jax - Jacksonville.com
PWD
