Walk into a pub in Marylebone on a crisp October Sunday and you’ll see it. Teal jerseys. Everywhere. It’s a bit surreal, honestly, seeing a sea of Jacksonville Jaguars gear thousands of miles away from the humid swamps of North Florida. If you’ve ever sat on your couch at 9:30 AM ET watching a game from Wembley or Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you’ve probably asked yourself: why do the Jaguars always play in London? It’s not a coincidence. It’s not because they drew the short straw in some NFL boardroom lottery back in 2013. It’s a deliberate, multi-million dollar business strategy that has basically turned the Jags into "London’s Team."
Jacksonville is one of the smallest markets in the NFL. That’s just a fact. When you’re competing for eyeballs against the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Giants, you have to get creative to keep the lights on and the roster paid.
The Revenue Gap and the Wembley Connection
The NFL’s International Series started as a way to grow the game globally, but for Shahid Khan, it was a lifeline. Khan bought the team in 2012. Since 2013, the Jaguars have played at least one home game in London every single year—excluding the 2020 season when the pandemic shut down international travel. This isn’t just about selling t-shirts to British fans who are still trying to figure out what a "nickel defense" is. It’s about the bottom line.
A single home game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville brings in a certain amount of local revenue. Now, take that same game and move it to Wembley Stadium. Wembley holds about 90,000 people. EverBank holds about 67,000. But the ticket prices in London are higher. The sponsorships are international. According to various reports from the Florida Times-Union and NFL financial insiders, the Jaguars generate about 15% of their total local revenue from that one London game. That is a staggering number. It’s basically the equivalent of playing two or three games back in Florida in terms of pure profit.
Think about that. One game in the UK makes as much as a chunk of their entire home schedule. If you’re Shad Khan, why wouldn't you go?
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Is Jacksonville Moving to London?
This is the question that haunts Jags fans every time the team boards a flight to Heathrow. The "London Jaguars" rumors have been circulating for a decade. Mark Lamping, the team president, has been very open about the team's "local revenue" challenges. But here’s the thing: a full relocation is a logistical nightmare. The flight from London to the West Coast is 11 hours. That’s brutal.
Instead of moving, the Jaguars are using London to subsidize their existence in Jacksonville. It’s a hybrid model. By playing in London, they build a global brand that attracts sponsors like Lottoland or BitVector—companies that might not care about a small market in North Florida but care deeply about a team that appears on British television every October. This international cash flow allows the team to invest in things like Miller Electric Center, their shiny new practice facility, and the massive stadium renovations currently being negotiated with the city of Jacksonville.
Why do the Jaguars always play in London instead of other teams?
Other teams go, sure. The Bears, the Vikings, and the Packers have all made the trip. But those teams go as visitors or as part of a rotation. The Jaguars are the only team with a multi-year agreement to serve as the "anchor" for the London games.
- Shahid Khan owns Fulham FC. This is a huge piece of the puzzle. Khan owns a Premier League soccer team based in London. He has roots there. He has an office there. He understands the British sports market better than any other NFL owner.
- The Schedule. The NFL likes consistency. Fans in the UK have started to adopt the Jaguars because they know they’ll see them every year. It’s easier to build a fanbase when you aren’t a stranger.
- Market Size. As mentioned, Jacksonville is a "bottom-quartile" market. Teams like the Cowboys or Patriots don't need the London revenue as desperately as the Jaguars do to remain competitive in the salary cap era.
The Back-to-Back Experiment
In 2023, the NFL tried something new. They had the Jaguars play two games in London back-to-back. One was a "home" game at Wembley, and the other was an "away" game against the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham. This was a massive win for the team's performance. Usually, the jet lag kills teams. By staying in London for ten days, the Jaguars eliminated the travel fatigue. They looked faster. They looked more "at home" than the Bills did.
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We’re likely going to see more of this. The Jaguars are essentially proving that a team can "base" itself in Europe for a quarter of the season.
The Fan Perspective: Duval vs. The UK
If you ask a fan in Jacksonville, they have mixed feelings. Losing a home game sucks. You lose the tailgating. You lose the local economic impact on downtown bars and hotels. But most die-hard fans have come to accept it as a "necessary evil." They’d rather have the Jaguars play one game in London and seven in Jacksonville than have the team move to London or St. Louis or San Antonio permanently.
In the UK, the Jaguars are actually popular. They aren't the most popular—that’s usually the Patriots or the Dolphins due to the 80s boom—but they are the most "visible." You see Jags stickers on the Underground. You see Trevor Lawrence jerseys in pubs in Leeds. They’ve successfully manufactured a second home.
What’s Next for the London Jaguars?
The current agreement with Wembley is the glue holding this together. As long as the Jaguars need to bridge the revenue gap to stay competitive with big-market teams, they will be on a plane to London every autumn. With the upcoming stadium "Stadium of the Future" renovations in Jacksonville potentially forcing the team to find a temporary home for a season or two, don't be surprised if they play even more games abroad in the coming years.
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Understanding the Strategy
If you want to track how this evolves, keep an eye on two things:
- The New Stadium Deal: If Jacksonville secures the $1.4 billion stadium renovation, the pressure to move permanently to London basically vanishes. The London game will remain a lucrative "special event" rather than a relocation threat.
- Streaming Rights: As the NFL moves more games to platforms like Peacock or DAZN, the London time slot (9:30 AM ET) becomes a premium "exclusive" window that the NFL loves. The Jaguars own that window.
The Jaguars play in London because it makes them a "big market" team in a small market body. It's about survival, brand growth, and Shahid Khan’s unique position as a dual-sport owner in two different hemispheres. It’s smart business, even if it makes for a very early Sunday morning for fans back in Florida.
To stay ahead of the curve on this, watch the NFL's international scheduling announcements each May. Look for whether the Jaguars are booked for "back-to-back" weeks again, as this indicates the league's growing comfort with a semi-permanent European presence. Also, track the team's local revenue reports; as long as the London "kicker" remains a double-digit percentage of their income, the teal jerseys in Marylebone are here to stay.