The Jacksonville Jaguars are the biggest pro sports team in the region, but it is just one of the organizations doing business in Northeast Florida.
Here’s a look at the sports teams and events and where they stand as 2024 begins.
With an economic impact of $39 million in 2022, the last year for which figures are available, the Florida-Georgia college football game is a cash cow that has been giving to Jacksonville since 1933. But will it stay here?
An agreement between the schools and city of Jacksonville expires after the 2025 season. After a potential two-year hiatus for renovations to EverBank Stadium, the schools have incentive to return – they would receive a multimillion-dollar payout and ticket-revenue split, play in a new stadium and save the costs of providing security and game operations over a home game.
But some Georgia fans would prefer not to travel, and Coach Kirby Smart has groused that the neutral site hinders recruiting.
In a sport where traditions like neutral-site rivalry games are pushed aside amid grabs at the increasingly larger pot of revenue the game is generating, a pivotal question for a new deal is how much is Jacksonville willing to spend to keep the game here and protect the economic impact and TV promotional value that comes with it.
The Gator Bowl – now the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl – debuted in 1946 and is the sixth-oldest bowl game in college football.
Gator Bowl Sports President and CEO Greg McGarity said the event was going strong entering 2024 after two solid years following the pandemic. In 2022, a sellout crowd watched a Top 25 matchup between the University of Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.
Attendance fell off for the 2023 game between unranked Clemson University and the University of Kentucky, but McGarity called the crowd “very respectable.”
An agreement between the bowl and the city of Jacksonville for use of EverBank Stadium expires after the 2025-26 season. McGarity says he’s confident the sides will negotiate an extension.
The PGA Tour, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach since 1979, moved into a new 187,000-square-foot building in 2021.
The golf tour employed about 800 people before announcing the expanded office and said it would add 300 jobs in the new building.
However, the PGA Tour’s control over professional golf has been threatened by the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tour, which has recruited some top players from the PGA Tour.
As 2023 ended, the PGA Tour and LIV were reportedly working on a merger of operations.
The Jacksonville Axemen, who began play in 2006, claim to be the oldest active rugby league team in the U.S.
The Axemen play their home games at the University of North Florida and say their average attendance is 2,500 fans per game.
The team also has a JaxAxe women’s team that has been playing for three seasons.
Sporting Club Jacksonville is working to bring United Soccer League men’s and women’s teams to Northeast Florida and develop a 15,000-person capacity stadium in the area.
In December, Ricky Caplin, majority owner of the club, said the location of the stadium and training facility has not been determined but has been narrowed to two sites.
He said he hopes the group will be able to announce the location as early as January or February 2024.
The organization aims to operate a men’s professional USL Championship Club, a women’s professional USL Super League Club and a USL Youth Academy.
It plans to start its season in 2025.
The USL announced in August 2022 that JAXUSL, founded by a Jacksonville-based group of investors that includes prominent sports figure Tim Tebow, acquired the rights to a USL Championship expansion franchise. Former Jacksonville Jaguars player Fred Taylor has since joined the ownership group.
JAXUSL announced its official name as Sporting Club Jacksonville in December 2023 and said it would commonly be abbreviated to “Sporting JAX.”
The Jacksonville Armada announced in 2023 it is joining a new soccer league, returning to the professional ranks and plans to break ground on a Downtown stadium in 2024.
The Armada owner Robert Palmer and Mayor Donna Deegan announced in November that the team plans to join the MLS NEXT Pro league and start play in 2025.
The stadium is at A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and Grant, Georgia and Albert streets north of the Jacksonville Fairgrounds.
It will have a minimum capacity of 2,500 and can be expanded to accommodate more fans. It also includes at least 25,000 square feet of office space.
MLS NEXT Pro is considered the third division of pro soccer in the United States and would be a significant step up from the National Premier Soccer League and U-23 team Jacksonville currently fields.
Palmer also is launching an effort to bring a professional National Women’s Soccer League franchise to Jacksonville.
“I envision Jacksonville playing a pivotal role in the elevation and expansion of the beautiful game.”
The Armada was purchased by the RP Funding founder in 2017. Jacksonville businessman Mark Frisch founded the Armada in 2013, but sold it to the North American Soccer League after the 2016 season.
The Jacksonville 95ers basketball team is launching its first season in March.
Owned by Kevin Waters, the team will play in Swisher Gymnasium at Jacksonville University.
This isn’t the first basketball effort for Waters. He was the general manager and head coach of the defunct Jacksonville Giants. He also founded the Coach Kevin Waters Basketball Academy.
The team plays in The Basketball League, which includes 38 teams and four conferences across the U.S.
The 95ers are in the East Conference, which includes the Albany Patroons, Coastal Georgia Buccaneers, Connecticut Crusaders and Frederick Flying Cows, among others.
According to the TBL website, players earn $500 to $5,000 per month.
The season ends in June with the championship tournament.
But Waters isn’t satisfied with the team being in the TBL. He wants the team to move up to the NBA G League, the official minor league of the NBA.
Jumbo Shrimp baseball to see $25 million stadium renovation
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp enter the 2024 season on an increase in attendance from pre-pandemic levels and with more gains possibly on the horizon as 121 Financial Ballpark begins undergoing a $25 million, three-year renovation.
Plans include a new video scoreboard and removal of the right-field bleachers for a new entrance; wider concourses; and more concession offerings.
The Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins drew an average of 5,114 fans per game last year, up from 4.960 in 2019 and 5,037 in 2018. There’s room for improvement, though, as the ballpark seats 11,000 in its current configuration and the Jumbo Shrimp’s 2023 attendance was in the bottom third of Triple-A baseball’s 30 teams.
The Jumbo Shrimp finished seventh in the 10-team International League East Division last year, with a record of 70-79.
The team’s home park could also see a name change to reflect VyStar’s pending merger with 121 Financial Credit Union.
VyStar is the naming rights sponsor of VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena across the street from the ballpark.
In their seventh season in the East Coast Hockey League, the Jacksonville Icemen continue to grow their attendance.
At the 2023-24 mid-season, the team is averaging 8,061 home attendance and has about 2,000 season ticket holders.
The team’s success is based on a three-tiered approach, said Bob Ohrablo, Icemen president.
The team markets itself first to hockey fans, then to the community, and is working to create the next generation of fans.
Jacksonville’s growth means hockey fans are moving here from the North. The Icemen are aiming to fill that void.
It is active in the community, selling group packages to businesses, church groups and clubs.
Finally, it has built the youth hockey program from 200 players to 1,100 this year.
It doesn’t hurt that the team has been in the ECHL playoffs for the last two years.
The season runs from October into April and the four rounds of playoffs could find the champion playing into mid-June.
The Jacksonville Sharks won the National Arena League championship last season. It marked the team’s fourth championship since its founding in 2010.
The team sells about 7,800 tickets on average per game, according to Steve Curran, team president.
The team is doing good business, he said, having developed a loyal fan base.
“Jacksonville is a great footbal town. Fans have been very supportive of the Sharks and for that we are very thankful. What’s the saying: If it was easy, anyone could do it? Any time you are selling there are challenges. Our goal is to make our games something you don’t want to miss,” Curran said.
The 2024 season starts in March. The Sharks will play next year in the Indoor Football League. The season ticket drive is underway.
Jacksonville-based sports tourism company Airstream Ventures is in nine communities across the country.
In addition to Jacksonville, the list includes Sebring; North Platte, Nebraska; Lynchburg, Virginia; Vancouver, Washington; and Charleston, West Virginia.
Alan Verlander, founder and CEO, said the company is doing well and he hopes to expand to several new cities in 2024 “as part of our growth pattern.”
Airstream Ventures hosted 51 events nationwide in 2023, he said, with an overall economic impact of $12 million to $13 million.
Verlander said that as the company builds it brand, he would like to see new sports facilities built in the area, as well as the enhancement of existing facilities, to help bring more people to the Jacksonville area for sports tourism events.
Airstream Ventures’ schedule of events in Northeast Florida this year include a Super Regional Cornhole Tournament; USA Flag Football; Minor League Golf Tour; Florida Prep Lacrosse; and United Flag Football League.