Jaguars to play in London through 2030, report says

The Jacksonville Jaguars appear set to play a home game in London through the year 2030, at least according to a new report in The Times (subscription required). The meat of the article is debunking a report that Jaguars and Fulham owner Shad Khan was looking to offload his soccer team, Fulham, in favor of buying a much bigger club in London, Tottenham Hotspur.

As you can imagine, that report was false. Khan has no intentions of selling Fulham at this time.

The relevant Jaguars news in the article however notes that the team has an agreement to play a home game in London through the year 2030, which coincides right when the lease with EverBank Field expires in 2027.  There's quite a bit to unpack from that nugget of information, the majority of it good.

If it is indeed true that the Jaguars have extended the London series until 2030, at the very least that means the Jaguars will be in Jacksonville until 2030. Guess they're not moving in 2021 after all, Jason La Canfora. That should put to bed some of the worry that quite a few fans surprisingly had about the Jaguars leaving town.

Ultimately in the long run, the London series makes a lot of financial sense for the Jaguars while they try to make up all the corporate and financial ground they lost during the waining years of Wayne Weaver's ownership. It still sucks losing a home game yearly, but ultimately I still think it's a good thing for the franchise's long term outlook.

Update 10:30 AM: Jim Woodcock, Shad Khan's representative has released a statement on the report.

There is no agreement but discussions have been frequent and promising. Shad and the Jaguars have been clear that the London agreement has been extremely successful and essential to the local revenue streams and long-term viability of the franchise in Jacksonville, and that an extension of the current agreement would be welcomed. That said, this is ultimately a decision that will be made by the NFL. The one thing that is certain is Shad’s commitment to the Jaguars and Jacksonville is as strong as ever.

So, it certainly seems like the 2030 agreement isn't official at this moment, but it's potentially something that is being worked towards.