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If you're expecting late-night terrors and sweat-inducing nightmares because, let's face it... if the Bengals struggled selling out against the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, how in this world will they sell enough tickets for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars? The... one and seven... Jaguars... whose lone win came against the Cleveland Browns (not that we're above taking cheap shots at the Browns or anything... well...).
Be of a good cheer.
The team's manager of ticket sales, Andrew Brown, expressed optimism that the Bengals will reach the 85 percent threshold by Thursday's deadline, thus lifting the television blackout -- which seems to hover over us like we're ants avoiding Sid (with a magnifying glass) on the sidewalk.
"We feel pretty good about getting there for tomorrow," said Brown via Bengals.com. "Looking at things earlier in the offseason, you could easily identify this as a game that would need some help. So we were able to get out in front of things and start pushing things to Jacksonville. So we’re in a decent spot."
Last month the Bengals offered a two-pack flex plan. You could purchase tickets to either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Denver Broncos (the two most sought-after home games), but you also had to purchase tickets to the Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars or Cleveland Browns. When tickets originally went on sale in May, they included the Jaguars into the four-game "Orange Pack", which included the Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
Seems this is a lot like previous weeks. Got some help from various groups, aggressive push for sales. Doesn't seem in danger of blackout
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) October 29, 2014
It's not just the Jaguars game.
Brown felt optimistic that they'll hit the threshold for the rest of their home games this season. Of course the games remaining at Paul Brown Stadium includes a Thursday night game against the Browns, the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos... not really difficult sells.