The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the teams in the NFL that has been rumored to be moving to London and after owner Shad Khan agreed to play games overseas, it seemed even more likely and now he has added another connection, purchasing the English Premier League's Fulham Football Club franchise.
According to ESPN.com, Khan purchased the franchise for between $226-$300 million and reports say that the deal is official and has been sanctioned by the Premier League. Khan said that he felt buying Fulham happened at the perfect time and that he hopes to continue the success of the team and that he will be hands on while owning the team. Al Fayed had been hoping to sell the team for some time and Khan made his interest in purchasing into the Premier League known and now he joins other owners like Malcolm Glazer, who owns both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United, and Stan Kroenke, who owns both the St. Louis Rams and Arsenal.
Khan became an NFL owner in 2011 and paid over $760 million for the Jaguars and now he is the third owner of a league team and a Premier League soccer franchise. Randy Lerner, who previously owned the Cleveland Browns before selling it to Jimmy Haslam, owns Aston Villa. Al Fayed was in control of the club for a decade and now Khan will take over as 100 percent owner with no debt. There is a good chance that Fulham will play an exhibition game in the future in Jacksonville and the deal only makes the Jaguars more visible in England.
The Jaguars have a deal to play one game in London for the next four years at Wembley Stadium and the first game will be in October against the San Francisco 49ers, who made it to the Super Bowl last season. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the Jaguars could play more games in London and some fans have been worried that the NFL will move the team to England eventually and that this move is the first step in that. Argue it from the other side though and it makes sense that this move actually helps KEEP the Jaguars in Florida.
Since Khan will now have a base of operations and a support system in England, the Jaguars should get some extra promotion to keep the games at Wembley going strong and the fact that the franchise will be more well-known on the world market makes it stronger at home. Where it will now stay, in Florida, because of that new exposure. While it could go the other way, this move is a good thing for the Jaguars and bold and smart move by Khan.