The Jaguars' London Plan Is Bad News for Jacksonville
The Jacksonville Jaguars have announce they will play two regular season games in London in 2020, as owner Shad Khan continues his fascination with taking his team outside the United States. While the Jaguars claim moving two games out of the country is actually good for Jacksonville, it's clear the opposite is true.
Trey Wingo reported that a Jaguars official told him London games bring twice as much revenue than a regular home game and that the franchise would put that money into improving the gameday experience for fans in Jacksonville.
Spoke to a @Jaguars source today who wanted to make it clear: The extra London game is about maximizing revenue which goes toward building a top of the line downtown stadium experience in Jacksonville long term
— trey wingo (@wingoz) February 4, 2020
London games bring in twice the revenue of regular home games. This is NOT a first step toward relocation. It’s the opposite: making sure Jags stay in Jacksonville long term.
— trey wingo (@wingoz) February 4, 2020
So we're supposed to believe that London games bring twice the revenue, but that this is all just a play to invest more money into Jacksonville? Riiiiiight. If the London games bring that kind of money in, what's to stop Khan from adding a third? Or even a fourth? It's hard to believe that Khan sees that kind of cash and is solely interested in improving his lot in Jacksonville.
The truth is, the fewer games the Jaguars play in Jacksonville, the worse it is for fans in the city. That means the team is looking for other revenue sources and is actively seeking out fans in other markets. Which clearly means Khan and company don't think Jacksonville can support an NFL team on its own.
Khan wanted to buy Wembley Stadium a little over a year ago before withdrawing his bid. It doesn't take a great imagination to see him re-upping that chase, making a purchase and pushing to host more games in that stadium.
At the end of the day, no matter what the long-term play is, there's no way to spin this move as good for Jacksonville. It's clear Khan and his associates feel the need to play games elsewhere in order to make the kind of money they're looking for.