Are the Jacksonville Jaguars Moving to London?: Jags’ UK Connection

Every year, when the NFL announces their London games, the Jacksonville Jaguars are included - but why is that? Discover the Jacksonville Jaguars’ London link, the history that comes with the connection and whether a move there might happen in the future.

Image: Before the start of an NFL London game featuring the Jacksonville Jaguars. Credit - Tony Hisgett, Flickr.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team that has been playing in the National Football League (NFL) since 1995.

Over the years since their current owner took over in 2012, they have made headlines due to their connection to London, England.

While the NFL does have its International Series that sees three games played in the English capital, questions have risen surrounding the Jags’ involvement as they are always a part of it each year.

Because of this, many team and general NFL fans usually end up asking the same question; are the Jacksonville Jaguars moving to London?

Discover the connection between the side and the city, and have the question answered by reading on.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and their London connection

The Jags are a fairly new NFL team, being the joint-youngest franchise with the Houston Texans, being founded in 1995.

Since arriving in the league, they haven’t found their way to the Super Bowl yet, but have competed in the AFC Championship game three times before.

In 2012, they were taken over by a new owner by the name of Shahid Khan. Khan is a Pakistani-American billionaire businessman and sports tycoon. Before buying the Jags, he attempted to acquire 60% of the then-St. Louis Rams (now Los Angeles Rams).

After that fell through in 2010, he turned his sights elsewhere and ended up being approved to buy the Jags in January 2012.

His purchase of the Jaguars proved to be the start of his sports team enterprise, as a year later in July 2013, he bought English football team Fulham FC, who are based in London, thus starting his connection to England’s capital city.

Jacksonville Jaguars first London game

It wasn’t long after he purchased Fulham that a connection between the Jaguars and London started to form, for in 2013, the Jags played their first regular season game outside of the US.

They played the San Francisco 49ers during that game, and while they lost fairly heavily (42-10), Khan obviously saw potential in bringing the team over each year. They have played a game in London every year, except for 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NFL to cancel all international games.

British public's interest in the NFL and the Jags

The Jaguars’ games in London have been successful both on and off the field. The team has a 3-3 record in London, including a 44-7 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in 2017.

Off the field, the games have been attended by large crowds and have helped to increase the popularity of American football in the UK and overall has helped the growth of the NFL in Europe.

Since the Jags come to Britain every year, they have become one of the most popular teams in the UK, with a dedicated fan base that attends their games in London.

What’s more, in the NFL’s efforts to expand the league to global markets, they have assigned/ allowed each team to market themselves in different countries around the world. With a connection already formed in London, the Jags were given the green light to go forth with the UK.

Are the Jacksonville Jaguars moving to the UK?

With their strong connection and everything said, you may be wondering if there is a future where the Jacksonville Jaguars will be based in the UK.

The short answer is almost definitely not.

The main reason why it probably won’t happen is because of logistics. Even a team coming over for one game takes a lot on the whole squad. It’s a long flight, players have to adjust. Plus the costs of bringing over a whole team are quite high. And that goes so much more so if a team were to be based in London full time.

But that hasn’t stopped Khan from trying to realise the idea. Back in 2018, Khan attempted to buy England’s premier stadium in London.

Many wondered what this would be for, whether it would be to move in his Fulham team, but most realised it would likely be to move the Jaguars to the UK.

The £600 million deal looked to be on for a long while before Khan pulled out of the negotiations a week before a vote with council members on whether it should go through or not.

It is still unknown as to why he pulled out, as the FA board who own the stadium effectively approved the sale.

So for now, it is safe to say that the Jacksonville Jaguars will not be moving to London anytime soon. They will continue to come to the UK for the London Series and even mentioned in the past that they may look to do two games a year in London - although that has not yet been confirmed.

If you’re a Jacksonville Jaguars fan or just a general NFL fan who would like to experience the NFL London Games in 2023, you’ll be glad to know that the three games this year will feature the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans.

And you can have the very best NFL gameday experience by opting for premium NFL London tickets and hospitality packages for either the two games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, or the other one.

The Tottenham Stadium hosts the games perfectly, as the new venue has been purpose-built to be able to convert from a football pitch into an American football field.

The NFL London game day experience that the venues and city of London hosts attempt to replicate the feeling of an authentic American game day, with their own version of tailgating and lots of pre-game activities.

You can then level up your actual game experience by going for premium NFL London tickets, providing you with outstanding benefits that will ensure you have a day to remember!

Be sure to register your interest now in the game of your choice for the NFL London Series later this year, and we will contact you as and when tickets become available!