The Jacksonville Jaguars are playing in London…again. Against the Eagles will be the 15th time the Jags will take up residence in Pound Town with the 16th coming next week against the Texans. What is it with the Jags and the Brits anyway?
Eagles vs Jacksonville Jaguars
Sunday, October 11 at 9:30a EST
at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London
The story starts with owner Shahid Khan. Khan attempted to buy the Rams in 2009 but lost the bid to future owner Stan Kroenke (khan put out the highest number, but Kroenke had matching rights as a minority owner). Undeterred, Khan put in a winning bid for the Jags at an estimated $770m. However, there was one prvision to the sale. He had to keep the team in Jacksonville.
Here’s the thing about Jacksonville though, not only is it light on NFL history, it’s not exactly known for its cultural imprint on the world either. Their top artistic export is either Limp Bizkit or Ma$e. What can a multibillionaire really do in a city like Jacksonville, which also doesn’t boast a top 40 media market? Why, pimp the team out to the British Isles of course!!!
Khan bought the team in 2012 and starting in 2013, committed to playing at least one game every year there (with the exception of 2020 due to Covid). He doubled down on his London promise the following year by purchasing the Premier League team, Fulham FC. This multi-faceted and perpetual presence caused Khan and his people with the Jags to lay down roots in London with offices and continued marketing engagement. This is not the NFL in London, it is the Jaguars in London.
While we are laughing about the slop we keep sending over there for our games and wondering why they put up with it, kids in England are growing up as Jaguars fans. Think about that. It would hardly be surprising if there ended up more Jags fans across the pond than in Jacksonville itself considering the size. Khan saw lush green fields perfect for football while the rest of the NFL only saw a desert of soccer.
Let’s take this a little farther. The Jaguars have been playing in what is now named EverBank Stadium since they started playing in 1995. 32 years is a long time for a stadium these days. While small renovations have extended the life of the venue, a massive $1.4b facelift is planned over the next two years and will fully drive the team to Orlando for all of the 2027 season. While other owners are constantly holding their cities hostage for new digs, it is interesting the Khan was fine with this half measure at close to the same price as a new field. It could be because he is leaving his options open.
The agreement not to move the team was only a handshake and not a binding contract. When a team gets a brand-new stadium, it usually comes with a 30+ year lease. The same cannot be said for a renovation. While moving a team full time to London would not make much sense now, who knows what the future may bring? This could be a situation where an expansion franchise moves to London or Paris and needs another team to go with them to make the trip sensible like the Dodgers and Giants back in the day. No one is saying this will definitely happen, but you can bet if it ever does that Khan wouldn’t dismiss upgrading from Jacksonville to London not unlike local Missourian Stan Kroenke had no problem ditching St. Louis for the big market of LA with the Rams.
Photo: Chris Monahan, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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