With the Jacksonville Jaguars agreeing to play a home game in London for four years in a row, the reactions to the decision has been mixed. It's even spurned people like Mike Bianchi to come up with terrible ideas, like playing a home game in Orlando, Fla.
Is this why Khan is choosing to play games a half-a-world away in London instead of two hours away in Orlando? Good grief, the Jags should be treating us like a "primary" TV market; not a "secondary" one. They act like we're Green Cove Springs or Palatka, for crying out loud. The fact is Orlando is a much bigger city than Jacksonville with a much larger TV market. Outside of L.A., Orlando is the biggest TV market in America without an NFL team. We are an untapped commodity smack-dab in the middle of one of the most football-fanatical states in the country. And, yet, the Jags virtually ignore us.
Former Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver brought up the idea of playing a game in Orlando sometime in the future, but the problem is the fact that Orlando does not have an NFL-capable facility. The Citrus Bowl, as is, is a pile of hot garbage... and that's being kind. Sure, it's scheduled to have $200 million worth of renovations done by around 2014, but that's still two years away from even getting started.
Knowing how massive construction projects work, the renovation is likely to hit snags and delays, so the 2014 date isn't even a hardline date. The Jaguars play in London through 2016, two years after the the plans are set to begin. So Mike Bianchi, when exactly were the Jaguars supposed to play in Orlando in lieu of London again? You want them to commit to playing in something that doesn't exist yet?