As previously rumored/leaked, the Houston Texans themselves have finally confirmed an international week six matchup against their division counterparts in the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. It will be their second game played in London since 2019, with their last visit ending in a 26-3 blowout victory over this same Jaguars organization.
Texans principle owner, chairman and CEO Cal McNair provided an immediate statement on the development, sharing with KPRC 2 Texans Insider Aaron Wilson,
“We are proud to return to London and the iconic Wembley Stadium this season. We look forward to competing against the Jaguars and contributing to the continued global growth of the NFL. As we celebrate 25 seasons of Houston Texans football, this marks another significant moment for our organization and for Texans fans in Houston and around the world.”
It certainly is another significant milestone for the franchise, as Houston has seen an increase in national notoriety since their meteroic re-birth began back in 2023.
Texans have been growing into national fixture in the NFL since 2023
In 2022, while mired in what ended up as an 11-38-1 stretch as a team from 2020-2022, the Texans had only one primetime game on the season. It was a week nine Thursday Night Football matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in which they lost 29-17.
From there, these are the primetime games allotted to the Texans across the last three seasons (2023-2025):
Year | NFL Network | Thursday Night | Monday Night | Sunday Night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2024 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
2025 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
The maintained utilization of the team in primetime slots illustrates the level of confidence the NFL has in featuring their transformed product. It also is a testament to the tremendous reversal of fortune that has been brought on by the coaching of head man DeMeco Ryans, roster management of general manager Nick Caserio, on-field excellence of their young players and financial and infrastructural investment of team ownership.
American acknowledgement aside, Houston has also been featured on the global stage twice prior to today’s confirmation. The first was a 2016 Monday Night Football game against the then-Oakland Raiders from Mexico City (27-20 loss), the second was the aforementioned trip to London against the Jaguars in 2019. Their overall international record is 1-1.
It may not be the most popular of decisions for the team to play a heated divisional game away from the home town fans of either team. However, it's a sign of things to come for the potential for growth in audience scale. Especially for Houston, who's fanbase is arguably one of the most localized in the league.
Here's hoping to a massive victory in front of tens of thousands of potential new fans in the United Kingdom.
Add us as a preferred source on Google