LONDON, UK — The Jacksonville Jaguars are set to play back-to-back games in London, England for a second straight season, and their aspirations for the Jaguars' presence across the pond remain unchanged.
The three-year rights agreement between the Jaguars, the NFL and Wembley Stadium ends after this season. The team signed the deal ahead of the 2022 season after holding the rights from 2013-2020 through various agreements.
The agreement granted the team extended territorial rights in the United Kingdom as well as receiving the ticket revenue from the game at the 90,000-seat stadium, according to ESPN. In 2022, Jaguars team president Mark Lamping said the revenues received from that game accounted for 11% of the franchise's local revenue in 2019.
Lamping told the Times-Union in an exclusive interview on Saturday that a new agreement between the three parties for the Jaguars to continue hosting games at Wembley Stadium annually is expected soon and, due to the NFL's stance of wanting to keep their options open, it will likely be another short-term agreement.
"That's well on its way. We certainly expect to be back [in London] next year," Lamping said. "Our planning is well underway for next year, and now we have 12, 13 years of experience in terms of how this presence in London can be complimentary to what's happening in Jacksonville, and it's been a very positive experience, not only for the city but for the team."
A potential short-term agreement isn't surprising to Lamping. The NFL will always want to keep flexibility due to how much things are changing on the international front, he said.
"But I think I can say with a high level of confidence that London is probably the highest development of developed markets as it relates to international presence for the NFL outside of North America. It's a spectacular city, and I cannot see a scenario where London isn't always part of the NFL's international plays," said Lamping.
Jaguars London plans could expand during stadium renovation
The Jaguars are set to undergo a major stadium renovation project that will begin construction in 2025 with a grand opening in 2028. In 2026, the team will play at EverBank Stadium with reduced capacity and in 2027, the team will play at either Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville or Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
A decision has not been made on which venue will ultimately host the team.
The team's agreement with the city of Jacksonville on the renovation project enables the Jaguars to play up to six home games in London over three years (2025-2027) with a total of up to three in 2027.
Whether the team will opt to do that remains to be seen.
"It depends on where we play in '27," Lamping said when asked if the team anticipated exercising that right. "We certainly anticipated this in terms of our agreement with the city. I think that remains to be seen in terms of where we're playing and we want to make sure it works, not only or the team, but for football operations, make sure it works well."
Jaguars remain focused on London even with the league's push for teams to play in Ireland
The NFL's international footprint continues to expand. The league has played games in London, Brazil, Germany and Mexico. They're slated to host a game in Spain in 2025 and Ireland will be in the cards soon enough.
NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell said during a United Kingdom event on Saturday that he has "no doubt we'll be playing in Ireland," via NFL UK & Ireland's X account. Goodell said that "it's coming soon," before adding that the Steelers "really want to go there, too."
As part of the NFL's 'Global Markets Program,' in 2023, the Steelers were awarded rights to expand their brand and activities for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. At the same time, the Jaguars were awarded a license to expand into the Republic of Ireland.
Lamping said that if there's a market in Europe that is also highly developed in hosting high-level American football games, it would be Dublin because of the Emerald Isle or Shamrock Classic, which has hosted college football games in Ireland since 1988, most recently hosting Georgia Tech and Florida State to kick off the 2024 college football season.
Still, the Jaguars remain focused on London.
"I think it's pretty clear that our focus is in London. We did move outside of London to be able to market in the Republic of Ireland, but that is to round out what we're doing in this part of the world," said Lamping.
Could the Jaguars play back-to-back London games in the future?
The Jaguars will play on the "road" against the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before playing their "home" game against the New England Patriots next week at Wembley Stadium.
This is the second year the team has done back-to-back games, one home, one away, in London, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll continue to do so every year. The perfect circumstances have to fall into place.
Playing a road game in London requires a team on the Jaguars' away schedule to play a home game in London and the league must then assign Jacksonville the game.
The Jaguars are slated to play the AFC South, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and an AFC North team on the road next year.
