Fulham FC recently purchased by Jaguars owner Shad Khan could help unveil the new scoreboards at the home stadium of his football team next summer.
From a Jacksonville perspective, that was one of the takeaways from Friday's news conference at EverBank Field's Touchdown Club to introduce members of the Fulham Football Club, acquired by Khan last week.
"Absolutely, we want to do that," Khan said. "What a statement that would be to the global audience."
The $63 million EverBank Field project is expected to begin in January and be completed in time for the Jaguars' 2014 preseason schedule. A match involving Fulham in late July or early August would represent the worldwide showcase Khan desires.
Khan expanded his global sports footprint when he completed the purchase of Fulham from Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed for a reported $200 million-$300 million. Khan became the first person to simultaneously own 100 percent of NFL and English Premier League franchises.
Fulham starts its regular season next month, but Khan is already thinking about the future and how his two franchises can be business partners.
Khan said having Fulham play a match at EverBank "would be phenomenal. To see the city in the background, the huge scoreboards, the North End renovation - it would show Jacksonville at its finest. If you look at the eyeballs on a typical Fulham game - there will be 300-400 million people watching. It really gives us a huge amount of upside."
Khan spoke about his latest purchase after giving Fulham manager Martin Jol, team captain Brede Hangeland and CEO Alistair Mackintosh a tour of the stadium. Also attending was Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown.
"My first reaction [when Khan bought Fulham] was, 'What a visionary leader. What a bold move. What a great investment,' " Brown said. "What [an exhibition match] would do for Jacksonville is put us in the global marketplace and I think that's going to be good for the city."
Khan said he isn't concerned about the city having problems covering its part of the stadium improvement cost.
"The city is going to do what's right for Jacksonville," he said. "In my opinion, Jacksonville needs a good stadium and that's not only important for us and the Jaguars, but for the Gator Bowl, Georgia-Florida, whatever."
Khan reiterated his two teams would be run separately, though Jaguars president Mark Lamping will serve on Fulham's board of directors. Khan said he will continue to attend every Jaguars regular-season game, home and away. The Jaguars are playing one of their home games in London each of the next four seasons.
"We'll share our strengths and best practices when appropriate," Lamping said. "In short, it's business as usual. The fans each have great reason to be optimistic and collectively, we're going to have a lot of fun.
"Shad's full-time commitment to Fulham FC will raise our profile in London and will benefit the Jaguars and Jacksonville in ways we couldn't have imagined as recently as a few months ago."
Khan was at Fulham's home grounds last week, but had not met Jol or Hangeland until he greeted them at the airport as they got off one of Khan's private jets that flew them three hours from Costa Rica.
Pointing to the plane, Khan said: "That's how we roll."
That Khan appears eager to spend has already been embraced by Jol and Mackintosh, who think extra money spent on players could get Fulham on a roll. Jol and Mackintosh said Fulham has ranked last in Premier League spending the last two years.
Mackintosh said discussions have already started about how to improve the team before the transfer window closes on Sept. 2.
Khan said Fulham's operation is ahead of where the Jaguars were when he took over in January 2011. Fulham finished 12th in the 20-team league last year.
"To be middle of the pack, you need to be doing fairly well," Khan said. "Being in the Premier League for 12 years is quite a statement so they're well-established, they have great people and a great plan. We have to support them moving forward."
Khan, Mackintosh, Jol and Hangeland will fly to Costa Rica Saturday morning for Fulham's final match of an exhibition tour.
"We're very happy to have Mr. Khan on board," Hangeland said. "We know he can spend some money, which is exciting. But what's important to me is that he appreciates the values of the Fulham Football Club, likes the way it's run and wants to continue that as much as he can."