JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville city leaders say the Jaguars playing football in London is going to pay off big for the city. It's something Jags Owner Shad Khan has been pushing for since taking over the team.
"It was great to go out there. London did a fabulous job, got a lot of great ideas for the home field experience," said Khan.
He had a front row seat as London rolled out the red carpet for the Olympic Games. And now his own team will be playing there next season.
"Well you've got to stay tuned. Be patient for a couple more days. Ok," he said. "Be patient."
That was Friday. Action News has confirmed the NFL Commissioner will be in Jacksonville Tuesday to make it official. The Jags will play games in London through 2016. Folks with Visit Jacksonville can't contain their excitement.
"We love it, said Katie Kurycki. "Any time we can get the name Jacksonville out there especially to the international market we have a very limited budget and we have to use it to fight off those other big Florida cities that are taking a lot of the tourists so any time we can hit an international market like the UK and probably the rest of the world with this game would be great for us."
Kurycki says right now, Jacksonville is an untapped resource for Europeans. Taking the city's pride and joy to them will definitely help bring them to us.
"Right now we're not really on the map when it comes to those travelers coming from outside the US they don't know where we are," she said.
City Council President Bill Bishop is also on board and really supports owner Shad Khan's vision to make the River City bigger and better.
"The sheer promotional value of having Jacksonville on the world stage. You can't buy advertising value like that. Its just a tremendous opportunity," he said.
Visit Jacksonville is ready and will find a way to put some marketing dollars behind the deal. They plan to flaunt Jacksonville as a natural city with kayaking on intracoastal, great arts and culture and amazing dining.
