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Jaguars could play up to three home games in London in 2027 during stadium rebuild
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- Jaguars could play up to three home games in London in 2027 during stadium rebuild
The Jaguars would have the option of playing up to three of the team's homes games in London during the 2027 season when renovation of EverBank Stadium would make it off-limits to any football games, according to terms of the stadium legislation that City Council could vote on Tuesday.
The Jaguars also are examining Camping World Stadium in Orlando and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville as sites for playing home games during the 2027 season when construction would be at its peak on a $1.4 billion renovation of the city-owned stadium.
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The Jaguars have been the most active NFL franchise at playing games in international venues and cultivating interest in the United Kingdom for football. The proposed agreement would allow the team to keep playing at least one home game a year in London as it has over the past decade and will be doing again this year . The agreement also would allow the Jaguars to play more than one home game in London in some years.
For the 2027 season, the Jaguars want flexibility in being able to line up stadiums outside Jacksonville because of the construction, team President Mark Lamping said Thursday during a City Council meeting devoted to examining the stadium legislation.
He said it is "almost certain" the Jaguars would be using the stadium in Orlando or in Gainesville, or a combination of both of them.
"The other aspect that we have that would give us protection for the 2027 season is for that one season — and for that season alone — we would have the option, not the requirement, but the option to play up to three games outside Jacksonville in London," Lamping said.
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The proposed agreement also would give the Jaguars the option of playing a total of up to three home games away from Jacksonville over the course of the 2025 and 2026 seasons. For instance, the team could play two games in London or somewhere else outside Jacksonville during one of those seasons, and play one home game elsewhere the other season for a total of three games over the two-year period.
Fans show their support prior to the NFL Match between Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 08, 2023 in London, England.
In addition, the agreement would give the mayor the ability to allow additional home games to be played outside Jacksonville over that two-year period for the 2025 and 2026 seasons if the Jaguars show that's needed based on how construction is progressing.
Original plan had envisioned no Jacksonville games in 2026 and 2027
The Jaguars had originally said a year ago the scope of the renovation would eliminate all home games at EverBank Stadium in the 2026 and 2027 seasons in order to have the work done by the 2028 season.
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But after further review during the negotiations on the stadium deal, the Jaguars and Mayor Donna Deegan agreed it's possible to have home games in Jacksonville during the 2026 season with reduced seating because of the ongoing construction.
"The community wanted us to be away from Jacksonville as little as possible," Lamping told council.
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He said the Jaguars went back to its architects and construction managers for a plan where the team is away from Jacksonville for just the 2027 season "and that obviously increased the amount of risk as it relates to schedule and cost."
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The city would pay for $775 million of the $1.4 billion of work done on the city-owned stadium. The Jaguars would pay the rest and be responsible for paying for any cost overruns.
Megha Parekh, executive vice president and chief legal officer for the Jaguars, said "especially for the 2026 season, we just want the ability to come back and have a conversation if for whatever reason, based on the progress of construction, it may makes sense to play additional games away."
Some council members have said in previous meetings they would like to limit the Jaguars to just one game in London each year, but they have not suggested any amendments to the proposed deal. City Council President Ron Salem said he wants fans to understand what's in the agreement so they won't be surprised in future seasons about where the Jaguars are playing their home games.
He said when residents talk to him about the proposed deal, they "want as many games here as we can and I understand that. So we're trying to balance the London commitment as well as keep as many games here as we can."
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Lamping said that for the 2028 season when the renovated stadium makes its debut, he "can't imagine we would pick the first year in a new stadium to move more than one game to London. I think we'll even think about London for that year."
He said going forward after 2028, the terms of the proposed agreement would set limits on options the Jaguars have for playing home games outside Jacksonville.
In addition to being able to play one home game in London each season, the proposal would let the Jaguars play a second home game abroad every four years if asked by the NFL to do it in the league's current 17-game regular season schedule.
If the NFL goes to an 18-game schedule, the Jaguars would have the ability to play a second home game outside Jacksonville every other year.
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The current lease agreement between the city and the Jaguars does not have any limits on how often the team can move home games out of Jacksonville.
The Jaguars will officially play two games in London this season for the second year in a row. The Jaguars will be the "visiting" team on Oct. 13 against the Chicago Bears and the "home" team on Oct. 20 against the New England Patriots .
The game against the Patriots counts as one of the Jaguars' home games that would otherwise have been played in Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Stadium deal with Jaguars spells out London game options
