However, AFL officials ultimately determined that the city's current arena, Jacksonville Coliseum, was too small for league standards.
[5] In their inaugural season they went 9-7 and made the playoffs, but were eliminated in their first post-season game by the Norfolk Nighthawks.
Ticket sales declined that year, a trend that continued in 2002, when the Tomcats went 8-8, again falling short of the playoffs.
[6] In 2002 the Tomcats attendance was 6,047, over 2,000 lower than in 2000, and according to then owner Steve Umberger, who also owned the Birmingham Steeldogs, the team had lost several thousand dollars that year.
[7] Rather than risk losing more money the next season, and unable to find other interested owners, Umberger decided to fold the team.