Unlike other teams that give up only one home game to play at 84,000-seat Wembley Stadium, as the Atlanta Falcons and Raiders did this year, the Jaguars receive a much bigger payoff. The NFL gave Atlanta and Oakland the equivalent of ticket revenue for one home game, plus paying for the teams’ chartered flight, hotel and food expenses.
In the Jaguars’ contract, the league gives them all of the ticket revenue from the London game, expected to be over $10 million, plus an unspecified percentage of the corporate sponsorship from the event. The Jaguars pay their own expenses (a charter flight to London is $600,000) and for game-day stadium operations at Wembley.
But the windfall is well worth that tradeoff. Since the average sold ticket price at Wembley is $124, compared to $85 at EverBank Field with 20,000 less capacity, the Jaguars literally double their return on ticket revenue. The corporate sponsorship dollars only add to a revenue stream the Jaguars desperately need for financial stability.
“London is worth two home games for us,” said Lamping. “This year, we’re generating as much revenue with nine games [at EverBank] as we did with 10 games two years ago. Plus, we’re adding the benefits of London on top of that.”