Jaguars Have Set Up Shop in London. Fans Say Don’t Forget Jacksonville

The Jaguars and Patriots will cap the NFL’s 2024 London Games on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, with the pair of 1–5 teams each desperately seeking a victory. Jacksonville has been playing in London since 2013 but has ramped up its international strategy this decade.

It’s Jacksonville’s fourth game in the U.K. in the past two seasons, and the second “home game” the franchise has moved abroad during that period. The Jags are showing no signs of slowing down—and fans have mixed feelings.

A major factor throughout the next three seasons: the newly approved renovations to EverBank Stadium, which will cost the team and city at least $1.4 billion and require the Jaguars to find a temporary venue (or venues) for the 2027 NFL season, when Jacksonville and other AFC clubs will have an “extra” ninth home game as part of the league’s 17-game schedule.

The team has largely narrowed its U.S. options for 2027 to Camping World Stadium in Orlando and the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (aka “The Swamp”) in Gainesville.

“We have a lot of work to do on that decision,” Jaguars president Mark Lamping told reporters in London earlier this week. Lamping said the club has done surveys with fans, sponsors, and employees, but one of the most important factors is football operations.

Because of the renovation deal, the Jaguars can move up to six home games to London over the next three seasons, including up to three in 2027. So, theoretically, Jacksonville could move one home game to London in 2025, two in 2026, and three in 2027, in addition to any overseas games in which it’s the visitor.

One Jaguars season-ticket holder tells Front Office Sports anonymously that they would prefer the team discontinue its annual home game in London, citing Jacksonville’s small market and attendance volatility. “I really would prefer us to continue to build the fan base here locally and have as many home games as possible,” the fan says.

“On the flip side, I do understand the business side of things, and that London games have helped the team bring in revenue, and also grow the fan base internationally, which is all good for the Jaguars-long term,” they continue. “So, thankful for the London fans, I just hope someday we are at a point where it’s not necessary for us to have a home game lost in Jacksonville each year.”

That extra revenue comes from the Jaguars’ unique contract with Wembley Stadium, which they’re currently working on extending beyond 2024. For most international NFL games, the team giving up the home game doesn’t keep any ticket or game-day revenue—the league collects that and distributes it among the 32 franchises equally. But the Jaguars have been allowed to keep all revenue from games at Wembley, which annually draws more than 80,000 fans for Jacksonville contests.

With international marketing rights in the U.K. and Ireland, the Jaguars have built up quite a base of international fans, like Louis H., who bought tickets for both games this month. “It affects me in a positive way as I get to see the team play more,” he tells FOS. “But I do feel bad for the fans in Florida who do miss out on a home game—it’s an expensive trip to the U.K.”

If the Jaguars were consistently winning, the London adventures may not be a source of ire. But with the losses mounting, fans have another reason to pile on owner Shad Khan, who once tried to buy Wembley Stadium and also owns West London–based Premier League club Fulham.

“All it looks like is a little business expense vacation to an international venue,” says John J., who has attended every game in Jacksonville so far this season and last. “[But] as long as they are taking into account the fans’ experience back here in Jacksonville and splitting the London games into one ‘away’ and one ‘home,’ I’m all for it,” he says. “I know that it provides an additional revenue source from a top international city in London that Jacksonville itself is not able to compete with.”

Lamping said the team will likely take the rest of the regular season to come up with a recommendation for where exactly to play in 2027, and then present that to the league. 

For this weekend, though, the focus is on making sure it doesn’t return to the U.S. without bringing home a win in front of its London fans.