Shahid Khan says Wembley great for Jacksonville Jaguars

By Sky Sports News

Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan says he wants to host as many NFL games at Wembley as possible

Shahid Khan says the Jacksonville Jaguars already feel at home at Wembley and hopes the franchise can play as many matches there as possible.

Khan, who also owns Championship promotion-hopefuls Fulham, has made an offer to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association in a deal thought to be worth in the region of £800m.

The Jaguars have staged a home game at Wembley every season since 2013 and have won each of their last three matches at the venue. Khan says it is clear Wembley is a stadium that is good for both the Jaguars and the NFL as a whole.

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"Wembley is not only an iconic stadium, it's great for the Jaguars," Khan told US television station CBS47/FOX30.

"I think our identity and how we play there - I mean just think about it, we win three games in a season one of them is in London. We won five, two years ago, and one of those was in London.

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"Why? I asked the players and the coaches that - it's because we have the energy, we have the fans there and we have a full stadium there.

"It's good for us and I think it's good for the NFL. We want to host as many NFL games there. But the Jaguars, we want to play there.

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"I hope they [the NFL] are going to support us, and they know, I think the league knows how important London is for us.

"What it does is it gives us some confidence about what we are doing over there. We've had a full-time staff over in London for sponsorship and planning our games for a long time. It gives them some certainty that we are going to be able to keep that up."

NFL executive vice-president Mark Waller last year said it remains a realistic possibility to see an NFL team in London by 2022.

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Asked if there will be a NFL franchise in London by then, Khan said: "I have no idea, it's like asking where the stock market is going to be. I have no idea.

"I think what we have to do is look at how it impacts us as a franchise. We want to take the unique aspects of Jacksonville and supplement that where we are successful as a franchise."

Asked if Fulham will play any games at Wembley if the purchase goes through, Khan said: "Boy, I hope they do! It means they will in a [latter stage] cup game. I hope they do but certainly that isn't the plan."

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