London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL

I have to admit that I have a particular advantage with this blog entry. I've said in my previous blogs that I grew up on island off of Georgia, which is extremely close to Jacksonville, Florida. In fact, it is the airport I use to fly to and from home. I also have been to Jacksonville enough times to understand why Shahid Khan is doing this. My community knows a lot about him because he has funded a lot of charity events on Saint Simons Island (where I grew up).

I have already stated one factor facilitating this expansion to London: the location of Jacksonville. It is easier for the Jacksonville Jaguars to make this bold move than say the Denver Bronco's because of the airport. Jacksonville is directly on the East Coast. Travel wise, going to London from Jacksonville is a lot easier.

Khan wants to do this for many reason. He is a very recent owner of this NFL team and the Jaguars are not too far from loosing their team. Jacksonville has the smallest television market of any NFL team because it is a small place. In terms of land mass, Jacksonville is the largest metropolitan city in America but that means nothing because their population is extremely small. Khan knows he has problem. The NFL wants to expand their market and oversees is where they go because London is starting to like the professional American football, even though soccer is their sport. If he can does this, they will be the first NFL team in London. Khan does a lot of business out of London so he has a particular advantage because he already has ties there. London is the most "valuable sporting enterprise on the planet" (1). This could attract a lot of people but of course there are many consequences.

As of right now, they are playing a few games in London and will expand if it goes well. Jacksonville is the obvious candidate for this because they are doing the worst, they are small, and because of their location on the east coast. However, there are a lot of negative consequences besides just the logistics of the travel. This could fail tremendously, it is an extremely bold move of Khan to do this. If he does, it will alienate a lot of Jaguar fans. Some have season tickets, and if that switches from say 8 to six, that is huge for their fans and it may cause a lot of anger for the people in Jacksonville. Traveling would be really hard also, this will for sure cause anger not just between fans but for the players as well. The solutions offered on page three on the article are valid, but they are not perfect.

Khan is also a very powerful man. His story is not one that should be avoided because it does illustrate that this idea may not be too ridiculous as it sounds. Khan came from nothing. He went to Northwestern University, got into a fraternity which would have normally (during that period of time) rejected him because of his Pakistan nationality. He came from nothing and made himself into a billionaire against all odds. He is clearly a very smart man but this "london calling" may not be the right answer. His other option is to go to LA.