Jaguars will host the 49ers in London next year

CHICAGO -- There is a five-hour time difference between New York and London. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quick to point that out to me during his press conference at the NFL fall league meetings on Tuesday. Because of that time difference, football fans in the United States will not see one of the league’s two 2013 London games in primetime there.

“That means the game will be played at two in the morning,” Goodell said. “I think that would be tough.”

The game will take place on October 27 next year, according to other reports. It will be played at Wembley Stadium.

So far, the assignment of regular season home games to international locations has been associated with losing host franchises, or teams with struggling home attendance. Both qualities could describe the Jaguars, who have finished .500 or worse their last four seasons and have previously struggled to sell out EverBank Field in previous years.

In its press release, the NFL pointed to sustained ratings growth and increased tickets sales as a sign that the U.K. is a growing NFL market. How or if that translates into support or revenue for the specific teams sent to sacrifice a true home game is yet to be determined.

New Jaguars owner Shad Khan expressed excitement that his team was chosen to represent the Jacksonville area in London with this statement: