A ‘home away from home’: the (London) Jaguars and the NFL’s established international presence—a semi-deterritorialization approach

Abstract

In 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced they established a partnership with the city of London to play one home game each year. This article frames the Jaguars ‘home away from home’ to the London Jaguars amidst American sports expansion. Critical and conceptual reflections will be linked to sport, geography, neoliberalism and deterritorialization. This article contributes to the literature on sports geography as it ascribes and applies the notion of semi-deterritorialization. To analyse discussions and representations concerning the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, this work seeks out and evaluates meanings presented through online media to interpret the place and presence of the Jaguars in London. In line with the contribution of this article, interpreting meanings of territorialization in this case lead to new permutations of semi-deterritorialization based on the Jaguars temporary presence.