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Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan is in talks to buy English Premier League club Fulham FC, according to multiple reports. What seemed to start as just rumors on Twitter late last night, which has now blossomed to a full fledged report on television from Sky Sports.
The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that Fulham owner Mohamad Al Fayed is putting the club up for sale, which has been valued around £200 million ($298 million), and a deal with Khan to purchase the team could be completed by the end of the week.
Khan is a noted soccer fan and made a few rounds to some matches when he was in London, most notably attending an Everton match and sitting with the owner of the club. The only feedback I've gotten speaking with a few people on the possibility of Khan entering the soccer foray is a "I wouldn't be surprised at all," but Sky Sports is reporting he's in advanced talks.
If Khan joined the EPL ranks as an owner, he would be with fellow NFL owners Joel Glazer (Buccaneers, Manchester United), and Stan Kroenke (Rams, Arsenal).
While the purchase of a foreign soccer team, especially a London based one, is going to give more fuel to the ridiculous "Jaguars are moving to London!" fire, owning a London based team would make less sense in moving a team there. By holding both Fulham in London and the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Khan taps two markets at the same time. By moving an NFL franchise to London, he's competing against himself for money.
An interesting note in all of this, if the reports of advanced talks are true, is the possibility of a partnership between the two franchises, especially since Jacksonville has exclusive marketing rights in England for the next four years.
It's all just talk right now, but get ready for another moving to London firestorm.