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Downtown businesses prepare for Jaguars home opener

Businesses around downtown Jacksonville spent Saturday preparing for crowds to roll in Sunday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Businesses around downtown Jacksonville spent Saturday preparing for crowds to roll in Sunday - whether it be to celebrate or wallow.

The Jaguars home opener kicks off at 1 o'clock.

Many businesses, like The Touchdown Grill and That Bar at the Arena will be open by 10 o'clock to capitalize on the busy day.

"I think it looks really good," said That Bar at the Arena Employee Debrah Coury. "People are curious to see what the Jags are going to do this year."

Coury has spent seven years working at That Bar at the Arena, which thousands of folks have to walk right past on their way to the stadium.

That's seven NFL seasons...for better or worse.

Despite a tough record last year, ESPN reports the Jaguars brought in an average of 60,000 people per home game.

That's 60,000 potential customers for Coury.

"I couldn't even count," said Coury. "I'm so busy during that time that it's hard to predict how many people come in. A lot."

Coury and her team were concerned they may see a little small crowd for the first home game when construction closed off A Philip Randolph Boulevard for several weeks.

Those crews have moved out and the road is open, so crowds should be able to 'rush' right on in.

"The whole road was blocked off and they were detouring traffic around us, although, people who know That Bar at the Arena know how to get here," said Coury.

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