The Jaguars are staying put in Jacksonville and will not be heading to Los Angeles, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. When former Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver sold the team to Shad Khan in 2011, there were rumors that the Jags could be on the move to the West Coast. However, Khan has quieted that talk, stating “Actions speak louder than words and [Jaguars fans are] finally seeing the actions match the talk.” Those actions, as O’Halloran points out, include Khan’s stated commitment to Jacksonville, a stadium lease that does not expire until 2030, and the $63MM in stadium enhancements that debuted in late July (Khan himself paid for $20MM of those enhancements).
But with NFL football apparently destined to remain in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future, rumors about the respective fates of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders continue to swirl. As Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today writes, there could be as many as two spots available in Los Angeles, and each of the those three franchises “is driven by concerns that it could be stuck in its current market in an undesirable situation while the other two party up in their new shared palace.”
Of course, despite recent media reports that suggest the relocation of at least one franchise to Los Angeles is imminent, there are a number of obstacles to clear before that can happen, obstacles that Schrotenboer describes in great detail. One consideration that the league will take into account is the relative revenue gain it can anticipate from moving one or more teams to LA. San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the country, whereas Oakland and St. Louis are the 45th and 58th largest, respectively. As such, the league would have less to gain by a Chargers move than it would if the Rams or Raiders were to leave their current homes.
Nonetheless with the Jaguars essentially out of the picture, fans in St. Louis, Oakland, and San Diego have a little more reason for concern.