CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns could be making a return to the NFL’s international stage in the 2020 regular season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars announced Tuesday that they will host back-to-back games at famed-Wembley Stadium in London during the 2020 season, and two of their opponents, the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers, have been reserved for the home fans in Florida.
That leaves the Jaguars with six remaining home opponents as potential options for London games, including the Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins.
“This isn’t about next season or the next few seasons in Jacksonville, but really about the next 10 years, 25 years and beyond,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a release announcing the games. “There is no better time than now to capitalize on the opportunity to play two home games in London, where we will continue to develop our loyal and growing fan base there and throughout the UK, during a period in which I will be focused heavily on creating a new downtown experience that we want, need and must have here.”
If the Browns are chosen as one of Jacksonville’s two London opponents, it would mark their second overseas appearance in the last four years.
The Browns last played in the NFL International Series in 2017 when they faced the Minnesota Vikings, with whom new Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski was an assistant. Minnesota defeated Cleveland, 33-16, at Twickenham Stadium in London.
Although the Browns have struggled to win since their return to the NFL in 1999, they have fan clubs all over the world, including one in the United Kingdom, the British Bulldawgs Browns Backers from Leicester Square in London.
Including the London-based group, the Browns Backers have six chapters across Europe.
When the 2017 NFL International Series was announced by the league office, several members of the Browns flew to England to drum up support for the game, and they came back impressed by the European football fans.
“There were a good amount of Browns fans over there,” offensive lineman Joel Bitonio said at the time.
In addition to the one regular-season game abroad, the Browns have played abroad three times in the preseason.
The Browns first travelled out of the country during the 1988 season when they took on the New York Jets in Montreal, and then, faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles in front of 73,677 fans in London in the 1989 preseason.
Also, the Browns played internationally during the 1993 preseason when they travelled to Toronto to face the New England Patriots.