GREEN BAY — Maybe London won't be calling the Green Bay Packers next season after all.
There was some buzz last week that the Packers would be headed overseas for their game next season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who play one home game per year in London. The NFL scheduling rotation has the Packers slated to play at Jacksonville in 2016. Florida Times-Union reporter Ryan O'Halloran posited in a column that he expects Jaguars owner Shad Kahn to announce during the week leading up to the Jaguars' Oct. 25 game against Buffalo in London their opponent in next year's game would be the Packers. Multiple news outlets then took O'Halloran's opinion and ran with it as a "report."
According to Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy, the chances of the Packers playing the Jaguars in London next season might not be as good as many think.
"I talked to Shad, and he expressed to me that he would be very reluctant to move a Packers game away from Jacksonville," Murphy said Monday, after meeting with reporters to discuss the club's financial picture.
Murphy said his conversation with Kahn was awhile ago, and it's possible the league will make it worth the Jaguars' while to move the game against the Packers.
The Packers are unwilling to give up one of their own home games to play overseas, but he said opposing teams are also reluctant to move a game against the Packers because of the way the green-and-gold faithful travel. Green Bay has yet to play a game in London since the league began exporting at least one game a year.
"We would love to play an away game [in London]. We've made the league aware of that," Murphy said. "The challenge is that our fans travel so well to away games in the United States that teams are very reluctant to give up home games against the Packers."
Jason Wilde  wrote: