Jaguars’ move to London gains more steam with $1 billion relocation threat by NFL team
The Jaguars keep threatening to leave their home city of Jacksonville, Florida.
This time a strong public threat has a new $1 billion price tag attached.
Could the NFL move a franchise to London full time?
That question has become louder and louder in recent years, especially with Shahid Khan's team set to play two games in London this season.
Khan is also the owner of Fulham in the Premier League.
His net worth has been estimated at $12.2 billion by .
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Trevor Lawrence, Doug Pederson and Co. are basically doing a tour of London in October.
The reigning AFC South champions face the Atlanta Falcons on October 1 at Wembley Stadium.
The Jaguars then go back-to-back with a Week 6 matchup against the AFC contender Buffalo Bills on October 8 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
On Wednesday, Jaguars team president Mark Lamping gave the clearest indication to date that Khan’s franchise will leave Jacksonville - and likely jump across the pond to the United Kingdom - if necessary public funding isn’t delivered for major renovations to EverBank Stadium.
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“Do you want to keep the NFL in Jacksonville?†Lamping pointedly said, according to the .
A showed little support for devoting $1 billion in taxpayer money toward improving the stadium.
Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in 2005.
But the Jaguars reside in a small market -- they would never receive a new NBA or MLB team, let alone another NFL franchise – and questions have been building for years about the team’s long-term viability in Florida.
The Jaguars' stadium dates back 28 years. A push for increased premium seating, shaded seats and an overall improvement to downtown Jacksonville are among plans for the renovations.
The Jaguars believe that, without those improvements, there's no way the franchise can remain in Jacksonville.
“One thing we can’t do, recognizing that Jacksonville is not going to become a top quartile economy in the NFL, is that we can’t put the team, our fans or even the community in a position where we come up with a stadium solution that doesn’t put us on a path to being able to compete with the average NFL team,†Lamping said.
The Chargers, Raiders and Rams have all moved in recent years, with Los Angeles gaining two teams and Las Vegas adding one. New state-of-the-art stadiums were at the heart of those moves.
If renovations for the Jaguars' stadium are approved, the franchise is still expected to relocate during a multiyear construction.
Orlando, Florida, which is about 140 miles away and the home of the NBA's Magic, could become a temporary residence for the Jaguars.
Either way, it's not a coincidence that the NFL has given the Jaguars two games outside of the United States this season.
There are five international contests scheduled, including two in Frankfurt, Germany that quickly sold out.
When America's biggest sport sends Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to Germany in the middle of the season, you know the NFL is serious about expanding its international reach.
The Jags have been stuck in a boom-or-bust cycle since they entered the NFL.
The team is 190-262 overall and has often been one of the league's worst teams, including a 1-15 campaign in 2020.
But Jacksonville is 8-8 overall in the playoffs and reached the AFC Championship game in 2017, nearly defeating Tom Brady and the England Patriots.
The Jaguars also won their division last year and pulled off a historic wild-card comeback victory over Justin Herbert's Los Angeles Chargers.
Lawrence is a quarterback on the rise, giving Jacksonville a franchise arm to build around -- and sell home tickets for.
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“If Jacksonville loses an NFL team, they’re never going to get another one,†Lamping said. “And if the Jaguars have to relocate from Jacksonville, those of us that went down there would have failed. OK? And none of us want to face that.â€
If Jacksonville and the Jaguars are forced to finally part ways, London could soon be calling for its first NFL team.