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The Jacksonville Jaguars want to be London's team Black Keelan Cole Jersey , at least on a part-time basis.Playing an annual home game across the pond is imperative to the long-term viability of the franchise in Jacksonville. It boosts local revenue. It increases sponsorships. It masks some of the financial challenges associated with being in one of the league's smallest markets.It's what the Jaguars (3-4) have done each of the last five years and what they will do for the sixth consecutive season Sunday against defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia (3-4). It's also a game they hope to keep on the schedule well into the future.It has nothing to do with the advantage Jacksonville believes it has against opponents unaccustomed to making the lengthy trip that tends to screw with internal body clocks. It's about the all-important bottom line."We're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure we don't lose London as a key contributor to what we're doing here in Jacksonville," Jaguars team president Mark Lamping said last week.Owner Shad Khan tried to strengthen the franchise's foothold in London by bidding $790 million (拢600 million) on Wembley Stadium in April. He withdrew his offer for the English Football Association's main asset last week after recognizing the extent of opposition to the sale.Khan and the Jaguars insist the move was never intended to create a potential relocation spot for the NFL team but rather a way to gain more control over American football in the burgeoning British market. It also would have funneled more money back to Jacksonville."Owning Wembley was never the silver bullet to financial stability for the Jaguars," Lamping said. "It was one plank in a very long bridge that we're trying to build, so we have to find a replacement plank."Down-the-road solutions are clear, yet complicated.Khan has partnered with a real estate developer on a proposed $2.5 billion revitalization/entertainment district outside Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field and stretching along the St. Johns River. The project would require significant financial support from the city, including a massive cleanup of a parking lot built on petroleum-contaminated soil.If it breaks ground, it would eventually give Khan another revenue source to go along with the 5,500-seat amphitheater the city and the Jaguars constructed outside the south end zone.Khan already has spent $76 million on Jacksonville's public-owned stadium, improvements that include renovations to premium seating areas, an indoor practice facility, the amphitheater, the installation of the world's largest scoreboards, two pools and a revamped locker room and weight room.The entertainment district could be years away, which is part of what made buying Wembley so appealing."The fact that it's not going to happen, that puts pressure on us to find other ways to generate the revenue that would have come from there," Lamping said. "I'm confident that we'll do that. But from a financial standpoint, it's not necessarily a positive; it's certainly a negative. It's a negative that through creativity we should be able to overcome."The Jaguars are under contract to play one home game at Wembley every year through 2020. The deal Khan struck with the NFL for those games grants the Jaguars extended territorial rights in the United Kingdom, as well as all the ticket revenue at the 90,000-seat stadium.That gate accounted for 11 percent of Jacksonville's local revenue in 2017.Owning Wembley would have allowed the Jaguars to play there indefinitely and provided them additional revenue from food and beverage sales and suite rentals for any non-NFL events held there.Other NFL teams have figured out the financial windfall of playing overseas, which is why there's no longer a shortage of hosts willing to move home games abroad. After Sunday's game, only three teams — Carolina, Green Bay and Houston — will have never played in London.Jacksonville would be amicable to having back-to-back games over there Youth Blake Bortles Jersey , too, but only if one is as a visitor. It could happen next season since Oakland, which is without a home for 2019, hosts the Jaguars."The Jags have built exceptional relationships locally — with fans, with Wembley and the FA, with local boroughs, with the Mayor of London and the national government," said Mark Waller, the NFL's executive vice president of international and events. "We are thrilled with how their presence reinforces the NFL's commitment to grow the sport here."Jacksonville has several full-time employees in London to handle year-round marketing, including a number of events designed to grow American football abroad, and has seen a 300-percent increase in the team's London-based fan club over the last five years.Still, there are no guarantees the team will be able to extend its deal with the NFL after 2020, which is the final season before the league's collective bargaining agreement expires, or be able to maintain territorial marketing rights."Suffice to say their commitment is long-term and they are passionate about it, and we see that reflected in everything they do," Waller said.Relocation rumors and reports have been as much a part of the Jacksonville franchise as inaugural coach and current top executive Tom Coughlin.It was Los Angeles for years and London of late. Since agreeing to buy the team for $770 million in 2011, Khan has maintained his commitment to keeping it in Jacksonville and finding creative ways to make it work in a market that ranked 29th in the NFL in population, 30th in per capita income and 30th in gross domestic product.He took pride in Jacksonville not being mentioned in the conversations about L.A. before the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers landed there and took exception to speculation that buying Wembley would prompt the team to move to logistically challenged London."I know it frustrates Shad," Lamping said. "You don't do the type of stuff of that's he's doing, you don't invest the type of money that he's investing, if you're planning to leave."Hopefully, at some point in time Andrew Norwell Jersey , we'll be judged fully by our actions and not what speculators choose to say."5 questions with The Daily Norseman: Joint practice week The Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings are currently participating in joint practices in Eagan, Minnesota, as the teams prepare for a preseason tilt on Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.To help us get to know the 2018 Vikings team better, and to give us some perspective on what to expect from the Vikings during joint practices and this weekend’s game, I talked to Christopher Gates from The Daily Norseman — SB Nation’s insightful Minnesota Vikings community.Let’s see what he had to say...1. The Vikings and Jaguars are arguably the two best defensive units in the league. All biases aside, which defense would you rather have and why?Christopher: I’m not sure if there’s really a “wrong” answer here, since we’re probably talking about the two best defenses in the league. Both teams have legitimate stars on all three levels, thanks to a combination of drafting well and making smart signings in free agency. The Vikings have the advantage of going into their fifth season of the same defensive scheme since Mike Zimmer was hired, and it’s tough to understate just how big that is. If we were to base it strictly on talent alone, however, I think that the slight edge might have to go to the Jaguars. I haven’t crunched the numbers, but I think the Jaguars might be slightly younger across the board on defense than the Vikings are, as the Vikings have a couple of key pieces that have been in the league for a while (Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph were both drafted in 2010, Harrison Smith in 2012), while I think that most of the Jaguars key defensive players are fairly young. It’s a very, very close race, but yeah...slight edge to Jacksonville overall.2. How do you think joint practices — with different schemes, players and plays from the opposing squad — will help both teams prepare for not only this week’s game, but the rest of the preseason? It should be nice for them to hit somebody other than themselves in practice, eh?Christopher: I do think we’ve gotten to the point where the team needs to see someone other than the guys on the same sideline as they are. Obviously we saw what happened in Jacksonville a few days ago with Dante Fowler, and the Vikings had a few scraps leading up to their preseason opener against the Broncos. I think it’s going to be very good for these two teams to see each other, and from the Vikings’ perspective I think it’s going to be helpful to take on one of the NFL’s best defenses (and I’m sure that Jacksonville’s offense will get the same benefit from going against the Minnesota defense). Even without Jalen Ramsey along for the ride this week Tashaun Gipson Jersey , the Jaguars are a premier defense, and it’s going to be a real test for the new-look Vikings’ offense to square off with a group like that. Frankly, even if it isn’t the regular season, the Jaguars’ defense might be the best defense the Vikings see this season, and it should be fun to watch.3. It was in limited action, but Kirk Cousins (Go Green!) definitely looked the part in the Vikings preseason opener. Are you sold on Cousins (and his fully guaranteed contract), or are you taking more of a wait-and-see approach with Minnesota’s new signal-caller?Christopher:Obviously we’d like to see how things go for more than eight plays for the Vikings’ offense, but I do think that Cousins is in for a huge year in 2018. This is probably the best group of skill position players that he’s been surrounded by since he’s been in the NFL, with the return of Dalvin Cook at running back and the Stefon Diggs/Adam Thielen duo on the outside. The Vikings’ offensive line is going to be a sticking point this year, as it was last season (and the season before that. . .and the season before that. . .and the season before that), but I have a feeling that (offensive coordinator) John DeFilippo is going to be able to do a lot of things to mitigate those issues and put Cousins in a position to succeed. Even though the Vikings’ No. 1 offense was only on the field for eight snaps against Denver, they managed to use five different personnel groupings, and that’s going to help keep defenses off-balance and hopefully allow Minnesota to reach their full potential. Case Keenum took the Vikings on a hell of a ride last season, but I do think that Cousins gives them the potential to reach even greater heights.4. Are there any young players/roster bubble guys on the Vikings you are hoping to see something from on Saturday? Are there any Jaguar players you are excited to see play?Christopher: I’m not sure if you can consider a former first-round pick a “bubble guy,” but I’d really like to see something...anything...out of Laquon Treadwell on Saturday. We’ve heard all summer about how he’s gotten better and he’s been getting rave reviews in camp so far, but managed to go without a catch last week (Editor’s note — Treadwell actually had one catch for three yards. H/T to commenter NMVike). The Vikings need a third receiving threat to take some heat off of Thielen and Diggs, and I think most of us are hoping that Treadwell is the guy. As far as the defense, I’m looking to see how the battle for the backup spots on the defensive line is going to shake out. We know that the starters are set, and the Vikings have a lot of interesting talent as potential backups at all four spots on the defensive front. Players like Tashawn Bower, Jaleel Johnson, Jalyn Holmes, and Stephen Weatherly (among others) are going to be fighting for spots A. J. Cann Jersey , and their time to make an impression is running out. As far as the Jaguars side of things, I think most Vikings fans will definitely be keeping an eye on some of the offensive line prospects from Jacksonville. The Vikings, as we’ve mentioned already, have some significant offensive line issues, and we’ll pretty much be looking at all the teams the Vikings play this preseason to see if anyone that their opponents might give up on is worth a shot as a developmental prospect or even a potential contributor.5. The Jaguars and Vikings are coming off of similar seasons, both losing in the conference championship games. What do the Vikings need to do to get past that level and win the NFC this season?Christopher: On defense, the Vikings need to find a way to give their front-line players, particularly on the defensive line, a little bit more of a rest over the course of the year. Last season, guys like Everson Griffen were playing entirely too many snaps for a team that’s supposed to be rotating defensive linemen, and I think it started to wear them down toward the end of the season. That’s why the depth chart behind the starters on the d-line is going to be so important this preseason. As far as the offensive side, the key is going to be the offensive line, whether it’s developing players to the point where the quality of play starts to go up or finding a way to scheme around it so that the offense can function to its capabilities. Even with those issues, the Vikings were a 13-3 team last season and appear (on paper, at least) to have gotten better, so if they can get those issues squared away, there’s really no prediction that you can make for this team that could be considered unrealistic.A big thank you to Christopher for providing such in-depth analysis and giving his opinions on certain aspects. Be sure to follow him on Twitter, and also follow The Daily Norseman for all of the great coverage from joint practices and the preseason game between Jacksonville and Minnesota.