Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan and the NFL on Thursday announced the team will "continue playing one home game per year" at London's Wembley Stadium through the '20 season, according to a front-page piece by Ryan O'Halloran of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The announcement comes ahead of the Jags facing the Bills this Sunday at Wembley, and the new contract "calls for two games per year to be played at the venue, including one by the Jaguars." The NFL "has an option to extend the agreement" through '25, and they "likely will because of the financial benefit for the Jaguars, Khan’s commitment to expanding his team’s European footprint and the league’s desire to cast a wider net." The Jaguars’ London game "has represented" 15% of the team’s local revenues "during the first two years." Khan in September said that he "wanted a Jaguars-London extension to run through" the '30 season. In addition to the two games at Wembley from '16-20, the NFL "will play two games per season for 10 years" at EPL club Tottenham Hotspur's London stadium scheduled to open in '18. That translates to "four NFL games in London per year plus potential matchups in Germany and Mexico" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/23).
LONDON CALLING: ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco wrote even though Khan "had wanted a longer deal, the shorter extension is still a boon for the franchise because it has proved to be an important part of the Jaguars' financial operations." The additional ticket revenue from a game at the 90,000-seat stadium "had an immediate positive and significant impact on the team's revenue" (ESPN.com, 10/22). Khan said, "We showed up in Jacksonville three years ago, almost four years ago, and one of the first things was, 'How do you stabilize the franchise?' London, we identified, was a critical part of stabilizing the franchise. To get more fans and to get a critical component which was missing in Jacksonville, which was corporate support." YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Adelson wrote in a way, the strategy has "worked too well as the Jags' relationship with London has been the main talking point over Khan's tenure." Many have "surmised he's planning to move the franchise entirely overseas" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/22). In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette writes what "has become evident now" is that the Jaguars "desperately need the financial dividend the NFL offers them by going to Wembley Stadium once a year." The approximate $10-12M "is an economic boost that Khan can’t turn down." Frenette: "Of course, the Jaguars are going to continue an arrangement that doubles the normal payout for one game at EverBank Field" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/23).
ONLY FOOLS RUSH IN: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote while the league "isn't closing the possibility to any idea of any kind, it may be better off just staging four football weekends a year" in London, or even eight, with two neutral teams "rather than giving" the city its own franchise. There is "almost no question" that London "has the fan and corporate base to properly support a team." The question has to do with "competitive balance and logistics." Wetzel: "How does a team in London deal with endless travel, and vice versa for visiting teams?" With the NFL "approaching the final stages of finally putting a franchise back" in L.A., it "might be most beneficial to keep London open for a while" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/22).
NOT THEIR CUP OF TEA? In Buffalo, Jerry Sullivan writes when reading through the various newspapers in London, there is "virtually nothing about the NFL." It was "nearly impossible to find any information on the NFL games of last weekend." But the sport "is gaining traction in London." It is "still a niche sport" in the U.K. NFL U.K. Managing Dir Alistair Kirkwood "estimates that there are more than 3 million fans in the country" (BUFFALO NEWS, 10/23).
