The Jacksonville Jaguars football franchise is in a pretty poor state financially, so much so that in a few years, the team, as we know it, might not even exist. Despite the fact that they were 7-9 last year, and looking like a playoff team until about week 13, they sold out a grand total of 1 home game last year. The fans didn’t even care enough that 7 games were blacked out to actually come out and support the team A lot of the blame has been placed on the fans, for not coming out to support the team, but there is also the excuse out there that, in a recession, a relatively small town like Jacksonville, Florida is going to have trouble having enough money to show up and support their team, especially with 2 other in state teams. While that is somewhat true, there is one thing that can get the citizens of Jacksonville to spend their money. And his name is Tim Tebow.

This is not an article about what I think of Tebow as a football player. If you want that, click here instead. This is not an article about what I think of Tebow as a person. If you want that, click here instead. This is purely what I think of Tebow as someone who can sell tickets. Tebow is a very polarizing figure. Depending on who you ask, he’s either amazing or awful. However, despite that, one fact is true, the city of Jacksonville loves him.

Tim Tebow was back in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida this weekend and it was pretty noticeable. He was doing an autograph signing at a local mall, selling his autograph for $160 dollars to benefit his charity (yeah, he has his own charity, in case you didn’t notice, he’s a bit of an overachiever). He was scheduled to arrive at 1 PM. The line started forming at 6:30 AM. He filled the mall and sold roughly 1500 autographs, raising (roughly) an amazing 240,000 dollars. 1500 people in Jacksonville were willing to line up early in the morning and pay 160 dollars for Tim Tebow’s signature on a piece of paper. Imagine how many people will pay 50-60 dollars for a ticket to see him throw footballs for the hometown.

He’s a borderline cult figure in town, having grown up in town, and having become a star down the road 75 miles in Gainesville as a Florida Gator. The Jacksonville Jaguars would be wise to draft him, in fact, they might not exist in a few years if they don’t. Tebow is a project, but even if he comes in and does decent for 5 years, winning 6-8 games per year, he’ll still make the franchise a ton of money. I don’t care how they do it, though it might be smart to trade down and not use the 10^th pick on him (not because he’s not a good quarterback, but because it’s unnecessary to take him that early), they need to get Tebow somehow in this draft.