Ravens fans might want to get their tea and crumpets ready, because the Ravens are under NFL consideration to play in London in 2017.
It would be the Ravens’ first game outside of the United States in franchise history.
The game would be against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium, and would count as a road game for Baltimore. The Ravens are obligated to play all of their home games at M&T Bank Stadium as part of their contract with the Maryland Stadium Authority.
The Ravens are already locked into facing the Jaguars in a road game in 2017. They just didn’t know the date, and now the location may change.
Baltimore is one of eight NFL teams that hasn’t participated in the International Series since its inception in 2007. The others are the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars are under contract to play at least one home game in London per year through 2020. They have become a sort of home team in England. The league is looking to expand its reach globally, and returned to Mexico for the first time in a decade just more than a week ago.
Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti was in favor of taking his team abroad when speaking with season-ticket holders on a conference call in April, 2015. He said there was a 75- to 80-percent chance of it happening in the next four years.
“I would absolutely love going to London,” Bisciotti said. “I think it would be great. Hopefully it would be the time of year that we could get a lot of fans over there, whether it be near Christmas or near Thanksgiving, or September when the weather is still beautiful, even in the U.K. I’m all for it. I think it would be a blast.”
