Shortly after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ loss to the Houston Texans last Sunday, dozens of team executives and game operation staffers bolted for the local airport. With the help of a police escort, they navigated a crowded EverBank Stadium parking lot with tens of thousands of fans heading home.
The special treatment was needed to make a tight flight takeoff window to head to London, where the Jaguars will play arguably the most important road trip of the year—not necessarily because of the team’s opponents, but because it has ramifications that extend beyond the scoreboard.
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This is the 10th consecutive year that the Jaguars have played in London, but this time is different: Jacksonville is slated to play back-to-back games overseas (as the home team at Wembley Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons, and then as the away side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the Buffalo Bills), making them the first NFL team to have an extended stay since the league launched the international series in 2007. While overseas, the Jaguars aim to pounce on untapped commercial revenue opportunities while increasing their influence in a city at the heart of the league’s global takeover plans.
The Jaguars’ growing presence in London is evident in the fact that they will operate Sunday’s game at Wembley. It’s the second time Jacksonville has handled such duties, inserting more than 100 of its own gameday staffers, vendors, social media handlers and operations team members—up from the usual couple dozen granted at London games in the past—at the largest stadium in the United Kingdom.
“That’s our home away from home,” Jaguars chief operating officer Chad Johnson said in an interview.
Wembley Stadium, the home of England’s men’s national football team, has been a mainstay of the NFL’s international strategy; Wembley hosted the first-ever international series game, when the Miami Dolphins hosted the New York Giants during the 2007 season. Now the Jaguars have turned the venue into a test study to see how NFL teams can diversify revenue and engagement away from home. And as the competition for international revenue in the U.K. stiffens, with six other teams having secured rights in the country, that’s almost imperative for the Jaguars.
Unlike their first nine London games, on Sunday the Jaguars will reap the benefit of ticket sales while cashing in on merchandise and concession revenue. The game against the Falcons will be treated like any Sunday at EverBank Stadium, which has about 65,000 seats compared to Wembley’s 86,000-seat stadium. Despite absorbing hefty expenses to get the field NFL-ready, among other things, the Jaguars stand to make a nice profit given the higher capacity and the average ticket price being slightly more than in Jacksonville. The team declined to comment when asked about specific profit margins.
While operating a one-off game at Wembley Stadium can be more profitable than a regular Jaguars home game, the franchise hopes this revenue gap will eventually close as the product on the field progresses under rising star quarterback Trevor Lawrence enough to raise average ticket prices in Jacksonville.
“As the Jacksonville market continues to improve [too], the games start to merge closer to one another,” Johnson said. “So it makes it very much part of our long-term plans—playing at Wembley Stadium is part of our DNA.”
Last year, the NFL launched the Global Markets Program, formerly known as the International Home Market Area program, which allows NFL teams to access foreign markets for marketing and commercial opportunities. While the initiative to create deeper worldwide fandom for participating clubs is relatively new, the Jaguars have been activating for years as the only team among seven with U.K. rights to be equipped with a full-time staff of seven, which does whatever necessary to protect their English turf.
That staff has come in handy for the latest Jaguars push across the pond as the team conducts several activations and watch parties. For instance, they’re taking over a pub in London called the Pavilion End while setting up initiatives around JagTag, their grassroots flag football program, which aims to get younger Brits to pick up the football.
A variety of other entertainment offerings are scheduled nearly every day during the team’s two-week duration, including a country music concert featuring Clint Black and Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley.
The Jaguars, who set the record for the largest NFL event last year at Wembley, have used the moment to also ramp up their position among local businesses in the community. On Friday, the team will host a business luncheon that meshes Jacksonville, London and other U.K. companies—execs from JAXUSA and Gallagher Insurance are expected to be present—which allows them to develop new, prospective companies and facilitate local investment deals. The team says the U.K. relationships made over the years have helped to generate six new companies, 1,100 new jobs and more than $63 million in private investment in Jacksonville.
The Jags are the first NFL team to commit to playing in London each season, the first to operate their own game there and the first with back-to-back games. Commercial opportunities are opening more as a result, which is helpful as Jacksonville’s local revenue, including ticket sales and corporate sponsors, is lower compared to other NFL teams. The Jaguars’ U.K. evolution has helped unlock new partnerships with companies such as Sky Sports, which now airs a weekly 30-minute show dedicated to the Jags through their team broadcasting partnership.
“They see the depth of the programming we have and the fact we’re here consistently, 365 [days a year],” Johnson said. “The other HMA teams don’t have active staff and aren’t activating year-round like we are.”
They’ve also been able to create greater synergies with Fulham F.C., a Premier League club also owned by Jaguars owner Shad Khan. In fact, Jacksonville has hired a sponsorship director who splits time between both franchises, showing how NFL owners with multiple sports clubs can leverage relationships.
Financial services company Ebury, for example, recently inked a partnership with the Jaguars after signing a four-year deal with the Cottagers. FIS, a Jacksonville fintech company, and Seat Unique, which is handling premium hospitality for the Wembley game, are other significant crossover sponsors.
“We’re able to bridge the gap between the two franchises,” Jaguars vice president of U.K. operations Maria Gigante said in an interview. “That’s a fairly good and attractive opportunity for the U.K.-based businesses.”
The Jaguars, which have extended their foreign marketing affairs to Ireland and Belfast, will wrap up their two-week excursion with the second game at Tottenham Stadium in a clash against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 8. Jacksonville will be the designated “away” team in the NFL-operated matchup.
The Jaguars’ partnership with Wembley runs through 2024, and Johnson says there’s no plans not to renew their deal. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are hoping to secure funding for their $1 billion massive renovation project to EverBank Stadium and the surrounding area. Last week, Jaguars president Mark Lamping dangled the idea the team could relocate if taxpayers don’t pony for the facelift.
Lamping and the Jaguars have since walked back any threat to move, with Johnson saying there’s been “no conversation” about the team relocating to London, noting the team’s involvement in the U.K. long before negotiations for the stadium renovation started. “The two are not related,” he said.
The increased activity doesn’t help calm any nerves in Jacksonville though, especially as the league has wider plans to make London an NFL city—not to mention Khan’s nearby business ventures. Johnson says the team will discuss temporary playing sites if a renovation deal is struck. For now, the Jaguars are soaking in their moment in the U.K., diving deeper and building a stronger bond with the people who live in their home away from home.
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