One if by land, and two if by sea... Brits eyeing Jags?

[T-post Tom]

As Shad Khan tries to complete Wembley deal, British media suggest a Jaguars move

Jaguars owner Shad Khan is attempting to finalize his purchase of Wembley Stadium, England’s premier soccer stadium, and there are suggestions in the British media that he’d move the Jaguars there if he gets the deal done.

The Jaguars are already committed to playing one home game a year in London, but Khan has always insisted that he’s keeping the team in Jacksonville. However, British media outlets don’t seem to buy it.

The Financial Times writes that if Khan is able to complete the Wembley purchase, England’s Football Association “will vacate the premises over the autumn months when the Jaguars play NFL games, with Mr Khan harbouring ambitious plans to bring his US American football franchise to London.” The Daily Mail writes that “Khan made it clear that owning Wembley would ‘protect the Jaguars’ position in London’. He will need approval from the NFL to make that happen.”

But the logistics of having a team based in London may be a greater obstacle than the British media are suggesting. To name just a few issues, the NFL hasn’t figured out how it would manage the travel schedule of a team playing in London eight times a year, whether the team would also stay in London for training camp and offseason work, and how free agents could be persuaded to move to another country.

And although Khan has an agreement in principle to buy Wembley for about $800 million, it’s no lock that the deal will be approved by the Football Association’s 10-member board. That board will take a vote on Thursday, and there’s talk that they’ll deny the sale.

So while Khan might be just a day away from buying Wembley, and might have aspirations to own the first overseas NFL team, the reality is there are still big obstacles in his way. Combine all those obstacles with the fact that Jacksonville fans have been supporting the Jaguars in large numbers this year, and it seems unlikely that we’ll see the Jacksonville Jaguars become the London Jaguars any time soon.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/09/26/as-shad-khan-tries-to-complete-wembley-deal-british-media-suggest-a-jaguars-move/

[Couch-Potato]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

If Hawaii can do it in college, I guess the travel logistics for a London NFL franchise could theoretically be worked out, but it would still put them at a competitive disadvantage with the travel distance.

Good point! Also, if I'm an NFL player, I'd much rather be in London than Jacksonville!

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Couch-Potato

Good point! Also, if I'm an NFL player, I'd much rather be in London than Jacksonville!

No state income tax in Florida, high taxes in the UK.

[Rain Man]

[chiefzilla1501]

There are no words for what utter ****ing dumbshit bull****ingshittery this would be.

Now we have to explain how every road team has to play on up to 8 hours time difference. And the jaguars will have to do this at least 8 times a season. And then the team traveling from Europe will be dealing with jet lag.

There are a million bad reasons to do this. Only one reason to do it... Money. **** these nfl mother****ers.

[chiefzilla1501]

The Whole Europe thing is stupid as shit anyway. Instead of interfering with scheduling, the NFL should do friendlies just like soccer does. We could send Litton over there with dieter and Kemp and company and play England's nfl squads. But I suppose that would make too much sense.

[DRM08]

They need the Concord jet to make this work.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by T-post Tom

The Captain of overacting. Also appreciate a Ricardo Montalban post by "Tattoo".

[Valiant]

Dumbest thing ever would be putting a regular team there. Development league, sure with some regular season games, fine.

Would be a huge flop if the team stunk and bitch session by players if they had to travel there.would they host games our time or theirs? TV ratings here might suck depending on that.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

There are no words for what utter ****ing dumbshit bull****ingshittery this would be.

Now we have to explain how every road team has to play on up to 8 hours time difference. And the jaguars will have to do this at least 8 times a season. And then the team traveling from Europe will be dealing with jet lag.

There are a million bad reasons to do this. Only one reason to do it... Money. **** these nfl mother****ers.

I think there are two reasons to do it, and one is noble.

Money is a reason of course, but the noble reason is that if we introduce football to Europe, it will suddenly awaken them to how terrible soccer is. They can then abandon their armless beliefs and join us in the greatest sport ever.*


* For now, until Goodell completely ruins it.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Sounds like he's saying "Laurel" to me.

[saphojunkie]

the only thing I can see is scheduling mostly east coast teams going to London. It's really not that big of a difference between NY --> Seattle and NY-->London.

West coast teams would probably travel there after or before a bye week.

[Predarat]

They can't even get the new grounds and stadium right for the Tottenham Hotspur FC much less an NFL team.

[saphojunkie]

The bigger thing I can think of as a problem is customs. Would all of the medication be allowed in? What about team doctors? Can they operate in the UK on a US medical license? What if your player gets injured or concussed - they definitely can't fly back and are stuck in another country.

There are a lot of reasons this makes no sense, but I maybe there's a way to have the Jags as a second location in London, like... splitting time?

That, or Khan gives the NFL a break on stadium rental when they go there, but expanding to Europe is just dumb unless you're going to have a full division there.

Dublin 16ers.
London Jaguars (knights)
Berlin Bombers
Frankfurt Dongs

[Sassy Squatch]

Good luck convincing young drafted adults to upend their life and move to a different country for football. Having the Jaguars go once a year against a random team is fine. This is a whole new level of bullshit.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Good luck convincing young drafted adults to upend their life and move to a different country for football. Having the Jaguars go once a year against a random team is fine. This is a whole new level of bullshit.

(Shrug.) NFL Europe seemed to do fine. Maybe if you had a first-round pick who had lots of options that could be an issue.

It might have an interesting effect on free agency. Some players wouldn't want to go there, and some might view it as a really cool thing. I bet a lot of players' wives would want to go live in London.