JACKSONVILLE: Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said on Tuesday he is selling the National Football League team to Pakistani-born businessman Shahid Khan.
Weaver said that he signed the deal on Tuesday morning after running it past NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, aware that the league's finance committee must review the sale and the full ownership board must vote to approve the sale.
“I told him I wouldn't sign the deal until commissioner Goodell approved it,” said Weaver.
“This was not about money. This was about continuing the legacy that we have started.”
Financial details of the sale were not revealed but Forbes magazine reported the deal to be worth $760 million.
Khan, 61, plans to purchase a home in Jacksonville and guide the team's operations from there.
“Wayne's legacy will be lasting, and I will always be grateful for Wayne's trust and confidence in my commitment to the Jaguars, the NFL and the people of the Jacksonville community,” Khan said in a statement.
“I will be fully committed to delivering Jacksonville its first Super Bowl championship. This is a franchise with tons of potential, playing in a community that is passionate about football and loves to win.”
Weaver, who founded the Jaguars as an expansion team in 1995, said he expects the deal will be approved in early January and that Khan will keep the team in Jacksonville, although no such assurance was written into the contract.
“It's hard to write something to say you are going to force somebody to keep something here,” Weaver said. “You have to trust individuals' integrity.
I've no doubt Shahid will do what he says he's going to do.
“I had to be comfortable that his plans are to keep the team in Jacksonville. There's not a doubt in my mind he will keep this team in Jacksonville.”Khan, who was born in Pakistan in 1950 and moved to the United States at age 16, worked in a small auto parts garage while earning an engineering degree at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1971.
Khan began working for Flex-N-Gate Corporation of Urbana, Illinois in 1970 and bought the firm 10 years later, turning it into a major make of bumpers for trucks and utility vehicles built in North America plus Spain and Argentina with $3 billion in annual sales.
“This gentleman is absolutely the American story,” Weaver said. “He came to this country from Pakistan... he has factories worldwide and is one of the major producers of parts for all of the major automobile companies.
“I absolutely admire entrepreneurs and he absolutely sets the bar. He is passionate about football. It's my desire to see this team be successful in Jacksonville. It's great to have someone who shares that passion.”
Khan, who failed in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams last year, was a dream come true for Weaver, who at 77 said he looks forward to enjoying free time and travel without watching over the Jaguars.
“The main motivation for that exit strategy was to find someone who had the same passion for the NFL and for Jacksonville that we did,” Weaver said.
“He wanted to buy a team and he wanted to do it in Jacksonville. He welcomes the opportunity and the challenge to build a championship team here.”
The announcement came the same day the Jaguars fired coach Jack Del Rio after a 3-8 start to his ninth season in the post.
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