Jaguars in London? Ex-Employee Says Owner Wants to Move NFL Team Across Pond

Getty Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, right, with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan hopes to move the team to London, according to Craig Kline, once an assistant director of football of Khan-owned Fulham Football Club, according to reports from the Independent and the Telegraph.

Khan is on the cusp of purchasing London’s Wembley Stadium, which hosts home games for the English national soccer team and other major soccer matches. It’s hosted 18 NFL regular season games dating back to 2007, and is scheduled to host three more this season, starting in Week 6, when the Oakland Raiders take on the Seattle Seahawks.

From the Independent:

Kline has claimed that Khan’s purchase of Fulham in July 2013 was motivated by a long-term strategy to move his NFL franchise, the Jacksonville Jaguars, to London in order to seize the initiative in the race into the NFL’s relatively untapped European market and that moving the Jags from Florida to the UK remains his priority.

And from the Telegraph:

Previously, Kline claimed, he was told to stay quiet by Khan over his plans to buy Wembley and move the Jacksonville Jaguars to London in 2022.

Kline has alleged “systematic corruption” in Khan’s quest to own Wembley. A year ago, Kline accused Fulham of tapping up (what Americans call tampering) and racism in since-deleted tweets.

“This is nothing more than the same ongoing nonsense and bogus claims made by a former employee who left the club in 2017,” said Khan spokesman Jim Woodcock in the wake of the recent allegations, according to the Telegraph. “Nothing here merits a further response.”