Jacksonville Jaguars Playing Four Home Games In London As Roger Goodell Pushes the NFL on the Rest of the World

It is not a stretch to say that the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the least popular team in the NFL. That is not an opinion, its factual, based on attendance, TV ratings, and social media interactions. In an attempt to make something happen for the Jaguars, the NFL has decided that they will play four home games over the next four seasons in London.

Explaining the reasoning behind the move of the move, new Jaguars owner Shad Khan stated,

“The Jaguars and the entire Jacksonville community will be a centerpiece in the NFL’s efforts over these four seasons, and that’s a very exciting and rewarding development for all of us. My ambition is to make the Jaguars one of the signature franchises in the NFL and to see Jacksonville realize its full potential as a destination for commerce, tourism and living.”

While I can somewhat understand the Jags reasoning for playing a game in London, I think it is part of a bigger plan by Roger Goodell. Jacksonville is not a small city by an stretch of the imagination. However due to poor attendance, the NFL is looking to go in a different direction. London, for instance is a city of 8 million people. inside of a country of 62 million people. Granted they are all rabid soccer fans, Goodell's has in the past expressed interest in expanding the NFL to the global stage. Why not start with London, in the European culture that is most similar to that of the United States.

Yes, that is very conspiracy theorist, but it seems to me they are setting up to make the move to the international stage. To me, it seems the best move would be to start in Canada, but with a population of only 30 million, Canada it seems would not be enough return on the massive investment they would have to make.

What do you think the NFL is trying to do? Would you like to see the NFL expand to the global stage?