Sporting Club Jacksonville CEO Steve Livingstone says the professional soccer club’s stadium will create billions in financial impact for the city, along with more than 5,000 jobs.
The club, more commonly called Sporting JAX, features men’s and women’s teams and a youth academy.
The women debuted in November in the Gainbridge Super League, playing home games at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida. The men’s team has signed its coach and first two players as it prepares to debut in March in the USL Championship, also playing at Hodges.
Livingstone said Sporting JAX, announced in December 2023, has a vision to help Jacksonville and the First Coast emerge as a regional and national contender in the global game.
“That project vision is not only to bring back professional soccer to Jacksonville in the First Coast in the form of our men’s and women’s pro teams, but also to create an ecosystem that includes a pro academy and a larger youth academy,” Livingstone said.
Stadium development imminent
During a Dec. 5 interview with the Daily Record, Livingstone did not reveal where Sporting JAX is planning on building its stadium, which, if plans come to pass, will seat 15,000 and be paired with a mixed-use development surrounding the stadium. The development around the stadium is backed by John Elway, Tim Tebow, Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy, Blake Bortles and Orlando-based Magnolia Hill Partners Family Office investments.
However, Livingstone did offer details for what attracted the team to its stadium location. As of Jan. 8, Sporting JAX has not announced its stadium location.
Accessibility to, and visibility from, major highways were among the team’s priorities in selecting its location, Livingstone said.
The site should be able to accommodate the business development around the stadium, and it should be centrally located.
“In addition to that, we can find somewhere that’s going to be supportive of the community,” Livingstone said.
“The impact of this is going to be significant. We’re talking, you know, billions of dollars. We’re talking 5,000, 6,000 full-time jobs. The economic impact of this type of facility is going to be exceptional.”
While the stadium will be owned and primarily used for Sporting JAX games, Livingstone also wants to attract such other events as high school sports championships and NCAA regional and national tournaments. Livingstone hopes the venue can be a centerpiece of the Jacksonville sports scene.
“It would be more of a municipal-type stadium as well a community stadium,” Livingstone said. “It’s a kind of ambitious program for the stadium, but one that we think is needed.”
Stadium plans call for retail and dining space, as well as hotel and retail development, Livingstone said. If possible, Sporting JAX hopes to build practice facilities for its youth academies at the site.
Talks with vendors for the non-soccer space are in a “fairly advanced stage,” Livingstone said.
“While we appreciate that there’s a lot of interest in soccer, it’s not going to stand on soccer alone,” Livingstone said. “(We want) something that’s going to be able to be used 365 days a year. When we’re not playing soccer games in there, it’s a great place to come for a farmers market or a car show event.”
Women’s team starts play
One of Sporting JAX’s senior teams is already on the pitch, and another is preparing for its first season.
The Sporting JAX women are undefeated with four wins and a draw in the Gainbridge Super League, the highest level of women’s soccer offered by the United Soccer League.
With half the season remaining, Sporting JAX sits atop the standings for the league.
Gainbridge, with nine teams, plays by the same standards as the National Women’s Soccer League, the most popular women’s soccer league in the country.
The Sporting JAX women’s side is the only professional women’s sporting team in Jacksonville, though the Jacksonville Waves professional women’s basketball team is set to compete in the UpShot league in May 2026.
“I don’t think there was any expectation among anyone that we would probably do anything,” Livingstone said. “It’s very hard for expansion teams to come in and make an immediate impact. Our team has done just that.”
The men’s team, which has hired a head coach and signed two players, are scheduled to begin competing in the USL Championship in March 2026.
The USL Championship serves as the second-highest level of competition in U.S. soccer, behind Major League Soccer.
By introducing the promotion-relegation format popular in international soccer, the USL hopes to make itself more competitive in North America. Sporting JAX has applied to join the upcoming USL Division One league, which will be the only major American soccer league to include the format.
In promotion-relegation, the worst teams in a certain league are relegated to play in a lower competition. Similarly, the best teams in a lower-level league are promoted to play in the higher-level leagues, which typically offer larger revenue streams.
“When you look at the effect that promotion-relegation has on fan bases and television viewership and broadcast partners, there’s nothing more exciting,” Livingstone said.
“The amount of interest that’s generated around that in the communities and the cities with the media is tremendous.”
Ambassador for soccer
Livingstone envisions Sporting JAX’s senior teams serving as ambassadors for Jacksonville nationwide.
Similar to how he’s seen clubs from Portland, Oregon, Philadelphia and Sacramento establish their cities as soccer hubs, he wants the same for his club.
“Soccer is the world’s game,” Livingstone said. “Being able to take that Jacksonville message and play across the United States in cities like Louisville, New York, Sacramento or San Antonio or out on the West Coast… We could easily be in 40 different cities each year with that kind of Jacksonville soccer message.”
In November 2024, Sporting JAX merged with the Florida Elite Soccer Academy, creating a pipeline where youth players can advance through the new Sporting JAX Soccer Academy toward a potential career for the pro teams or for college programs.
However, the academy is also designed with the understanding that most players will never see a professional or collegiate pitch, Livingstone said.
“There are more recreational players that aren’t probably going to make it to college to play there, but are still good soccer players and still enjoy their soccer,” Livingstone said.
“Across the U.S., it’s seen more as a factory that generates money, and forgets about what you’re actually supposed to be doing, which is helping the kids learn about the game, helping develop their skills and allowing them to play at the very highest level that they can.”
Relationship with Armada can be ‘complementary’
Sporting JAX might produce Jacksonville’s highest level of soccer, but it isn’t the city’s only soccer club. The Jacksonville Armada, Livingstone’s former employer, competes in the National Premier Soccer League with its men and the Women’s Premier Soccer League with its women. Both leagues are semiprofessional.
Livingstone said he didn’t see the Armada as a competitive entity to the product that Sporting JAX is creating. Rather, the relationship can be complementary between the two clubs.
“The better everybody can do, the better for the game and for all of us,” Livingstone said. “They’ll probably be attracting a slightly different crowd to what we’ll be attracting. But again, we would love to support them.”
Club sees 2026 World Cup as a growth opportunity
As FIFA, the global governing body of soccer, prepared to announce the first matchups of the 2026 World Cup in December, Livingstone was pulling his car into the parking lot of Lynch’s Irish Pub in Jacksonville Beach for a watch party. The pub is set to be one of many watch sites for Sporting JAX.
The World Cup is scheduled to come to 16 cities in North America in 2026, including 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada. The closest to Jacksonville are Miami and Atlanta.
Livingstone, like many U.S. soccer leaders, sees the World Cup as a chance to expand the game. Sporting JAX is planning on hosting watch parties and other events throughout the tournament.
“I think it’s going to help soccer across the board. The last time we hit the World Cup here in the U.S., we saw a surge in interest. I think the same thing is going to happen again, and given it’s a different media environment now, it’s going to be even greater,” Livingstone said.