Jaguars to play back-to-back games in London in October

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars will play two games in London this year for the first time, playing overseas in back-to-back weeks in October.

The NFL announced the international game schedule for this season with the Jaguars playing their home game against the Falcons in London on Oct. 1 at Wembley Stadium. A week later Jacksonville will face the Bills on Oct. 8 in London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Both games will be played at 9:30 a.m.

The Bills game was an away game on the Jaguars’ schedule so Jacksonville is not losing two games to London as has been speculated. The announcement was expected.

Jacksonville team president Mark Lamping told the Florida Times-Union last month that two games in London was a possibility.

London has become Jacksonville’s home away from home since owner Shad Khan purchased the team. The Jaguars have played one home game in London since 2013 with the exception of the pandemic year in 2020.

Khan announced in 2020 that the team would play two home games in London, but the pandemic scuttled all international games that year. Two home games overseas incensed the fanbase. To make a dual-London package work this year, the league scheduled Jacksonville as a visiting team.

The Jaguars have played a home game in London’s Wembley Stadium from 2013-19. Jacksonville played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021 before returning to Wembley Stadium last year.

Last season was the first that the Jaguars had full control of the game in London, meaning it handled every aspect of ticketing, merchandising and the gameday experience like they would in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have said that they get 11% of their local revenue from London.

The Jaguars are coming off their best season since 2017. The team finished 9-8 in the regular season and won the AFC South in the final week of the year. They beat the Chargers in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Chiefs in the divisional round.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is entering his third year in the league and is poised to take a major step forward.