Multiple sources are reporting the Jacksonville Jaguars have been sold to business entrepreneur Shalid Khan.
Khan, who owns an automobile bumper manufacturing company, was in the mix to purchase the St. Louis Rams in 2010.
This news comes in wake of the team's announcement of the firing of head coach Jack Del Rio. It's obvious now other factors were in play in making that move. Speculation still remains of whether Del Rio simply wanted out amid all of the in-season change the team will face. Several big school coaching opportunities exist, including Arizona State, that announced it was firing head coach Dennis Erickson earlier today.
Current Jaguars owner, Wayne Weaver, scheduled a press conference at noon ET today, according to the Jaguars web site, to announce the termination of Del Rio. Obviously other news now exists, and it's expected Weaver will confirm the sale of the team as well.
The question in Jacksonville now will be whether the alleged new owner, Khan, is interested in keeping the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Los Angeles County has been after a new team for three years, including the development of a new stadium in the area.
Florida Times-Union reporter Tania Ganguli Tweeted Khan's plans are to keep the team in Jacksonville. It seems obvious that would be the initial report. It's hard to ignore the money a Los Angeles-based team could generate.
Los Angeles is the country's second-biggest media market, and seems a natural fit for an NFL team. With the product itself as popular as its ever been, there's a huge market of fans, some still attached to the Rams who left there in 1998, and the Raiders, who have gone between Oakland and Los Angeles multiple times in the 80s and 90s.