Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan is "hopeful to extend" the team's contract to play a regular-season game in London "for well over a decade, securing the franchise’s long-term future in Jacksonville," according to O'Halloran & Carlyon of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The London home game accounts for 15% "of the team’s local revenue." Khan said, "We would like it to be long-term like 2030. It’s probably been the No. 1 element in stabilizing the Jacksonville Jaguars.” He added, "It’s a critical part of our franchise to play games there, get the recognition and build the fan base." O'Halloran & Carlyon note the new contract "would start" in the '17 season. The NFL "has a 10-year deal to play a minimum of two games" at EPL club Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, starting in '18. Khan said that he would "prefer to continue to play at Wembley Stadium once the new deal begins" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 9/2). ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco wrote the Jaguars' London deal "has been beneficial to the franchise because the NFL granted the team extended territorial rights in the U.K., and the additional ticket revenue" from game 90,000-seat Wembley "has had a positive impact on the team's revenue." The team's local ticket revenue was down 18% in '13 from the previous season, but "adding in the London ticket revenue brought it back up to the same level." The Jaguars' domestic sponsorship revenue rose 14% in '13, but that number swelled to 29% "when the London sponsorship money was added" (ESPN.com, 9/1). ESPN's Mike Greenberg said if he was a Jaguars fan, he "wouldn’t like" the idea of more games in London, though he gets "they’ve got to try and do something." But ESPN's Mike Golic said, “I don’t have a problem with a game being over there a year” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 9/2).
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Khan yesterday said that he "plans to move ahead" with an indoor practice facility "located just outside EverBank Field that he will finance at a cost in the 'ballpark'" of $30M. The TIMES-UNION's O'Halloran in a front-page piece notes Khan’s Shipyards project "included an indoor facility for the Jaguars, but he wants his team to have an alternate facility by the start of next season." Khan: "I’m not sure when the Shipyards will be done. ... It’s not a timetable we can control, just like we don’t control the weather." He said the new proposal for a stand-alone indoor practice facility is a “great plan and we’re going to be sharing that (soon).” Khan "initially declined to give a price for the facility." But when told that the Univ. of Georgia’s facility is costing nearly $30M, he said, “I would think that’s the ballpark." Khan "hopes the indoor facility will be completed in time for training camp next July" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 9/2).
