The Sporting Club Jacksonville pro soccer franchise announced it would field a men’s team that will begin play in March 2026 at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.
Sporting JAX, as the club is also known, said in an Oct. 30 news release that it would play 18 home matches at the 9,400-seat UNF venue as it develops a new 15,000-capacity community stadium and training facilities at an undisclosed location.
Details on the stadium project would be announced in 2026, the release said.
The men’s team will compete in the USL Championship, which the release describes as “the second division of professional soccer in the United States.” Other affiliated teams include Detroit City FC (an abbreviation for football club), Louisville City FC, Phoenix Rising FC, Sacramento Republic FC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The release said matches will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network, ESPN2 and locally on Sporting JAX’s official broadcast partners, in addition to being streamed on CBS Golazo and ESPN+.
Sporting JAX also fields a professional women’s team in Gainbridge Super League, operated by the United Soccer League.
Season tickets for the men’s game are available with a $25 deposit, which includes two free tickets to home matches of the women’s team. Season tickets starting at $12 per match will go on sale after the release of the USL Championship schedule, which is expected in mid-November.
The club says it has received nearly 3,000 season ticket deposits.
Mark Warburton, head of soccer for Sporting JAX, said the club would “soon announce” the head coach of its men’s team.
Sporting JAX also will field a men’s pre-professional development team in USL League Two and a women’s pre-professional team in the USL W League beginning in 2026, the release said. It also operates a USL Youth Academy.
In September, an investment firm that includes NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow and Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy announced it was developing a mixed-use district surrounding the proposed Sporting Jax stadium.
The group, Momentous Sports, also includes former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles and Orlando-based Magnolia Hill Partners Family Office investments.
Momentous Sports said the stadium development would include housing, retail and public gathering spaces. It is designed to be a “hub for both sports and community life.”
At that time, a media representative for Sporting Jax and Momentous Sports said the franchise had narrowed its choices for a stadium site and denied media reports that it had considered a space at the former Regency Square Mall.
The mall’s remaining two inside tenants closed in May 2025, a month after Lake City-based Blackwater Development LLC bought the bulk of the mall property at 9501 Arlington Expressway with plans to redevelop it.