Talk about arriving in Jacksonville in style. Illinois businessman and entrepreneur Shahid Khan finalized the purchase of Jaguars today from Wayne Weaver for a whopping 760 million dollars, (the Jaguars were valued at 725 mil in August by Forbes). To me, the most impressive thing is that Khan was able to buy the team straight out of his pockets.
If you are a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars and you’re worried about an impending move to L.A….
Well, you shouldn’t be.
Khan has given former owner Wayne Weaver assurances that the team will remain in North Florida and he is buying a home in Jacksonville and plans to settle there. So gone is former owner Wayne Weaver and former Head Coach Jack Del Rio. The Jaguars will retain their General Manager Gene Smith to help build the team through the draft.
Shahid Khan, originally from Pakistan, is an entrepreneur that owns auto-parts company Flex-N-Gate, which is estimated to have an annual income north of 3 billion.
Khan purchased the original Flex-N-Gate company in 1980. Since then, the Flex‑N‑Gate Group has been consistently profitable while enjoying impressive growth under his active ownership and guidance. The Flex-N-Gate Group today employs more than 10,000 associates at 48 manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Argentina, with annual sales exceeding $3 billion.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that the Jaguars are a lot better than they were yesterday. Here you have the NFL’s lowest valued franchised being taken over by an highly successful self-made businessman who believes that professional football can thrive in North Florida.
It will take the Jaguars a while, but this is a very good step towards putting together a legitimate contender in Jacksonville. Time will tell if Blaine Gabbert can be a Super Bowl caliber QB, but one thing’s for sure — you can’t be too harsh on the rookie QB especially when you look at the lack of help he has had.
Better days are ahead for the fans in Jacksonville.