I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If Shad Khan has a villainous master plan to move the Jags to London, he's literally the world's worst supervillian. The only way to get out of the lease early is to show several consecutive years of financial losses. You don't do that by actively adding new revenue streams in Jacksonville, bringing back Tom Coughlin, opening up more seats, expanding your regional marketing efforts, refreshing your branding and uniforms, and aggressively pursuing free agents.
Khan
clearly wants to make Jacksonville work. Even though we still haven't seen movement on the Shipyards (I blame the city as much as the Jags), the fact that the Jags have been aggressive in coming up with an alternative development for Lot J while inserting themselves into the convention center discussion demonstrates a long-term vested interest in the city.
Further, from the time that he purchased the franchise from Wayne Weaver to present day, Khan has been both a straight shooter and a man of integrity. We saw this in particular during the whole anthem controversy. I'd also suggest that he's proven himself as a man of loyalty as well, sticking with people like Gus Bradley, Dave Caldwell, Doug Marrone, and Blake Bortles LONG after most people were calling for the team to move on.
That said, he's also a shrewd businessman.
And when he was asked on his yacht a year or two back if the team would ever move to London, his answer was basically, "you never know what the future holds."
What makes the situation really interesting and unique is that it's not as binary as any other potential relocation in sports history. With Los Angeles, for example, an NFL team either relocated there, or they didn't. With London, where the Jags have a long-term agreement to play one game a year there in a stadium that Khan may soon own, it's more of a trojan horse situation where Khan could gradually transition more and more games to London.
I don't believe for a second that Khan has a master plan to move the team to London.
But I fully believe he's hedging his bets.
The city doesn't play nice on the convention center? Maybe the Jags move a second home game a year to London.
The city turns down the proposed redevelopment agreement for Lot J, doesn't tear down the Hart bridge ramps soon enough, or refuses to foot the cleanup bill for the Shipyards? Maybe a third game in London.
And, to Pierre's point, 2028 will be the true year of reckoning when the stadium lease comes up.
I actually think we'll see a major stadium ask come down within the next three years in the form of the sun-shade/roof concept that was floated a few years ago. September games are BRUTAL in the stadium, to the point that it probably keeps people away.
