Bring MLS to Jacksonville. Jacksonville may not be the first city you think about when the thought of an MLS expansion team comes to mind, but with a little research you will see we have a lot of potential. First and foremost, you will come up with the argument, "where do the fans come from". Jacksonville is currently the biggest city in the United stats land wise, and the biggest population in Florida, with a population of 821,784 in April of 2010(11th highest in the United States). The city is growing non-stop with new communities popping up literally everywhere within the county. With the arrival of a nuclear aircraft carrier set to make its new home in Mayport naval station(Atlantic beach, subdivision of Jacksonville). It will be bringing in approximately 4000 sailors and their families. So an overall population increase of around 10,000 people and with the majority of these people under the age of 30. Soccer in Jacksonville is getting bigger. In our youth systems we have over 15 youth academies, with the biggest being First Coast Soccer Association(FSCA). FCSA is the 2nd biggest academy in the Unites states with 2000 youth players in their system alone. The youth (u13-19)travel teams in Jacksonville do very well in tournaments on the east coast (NC,VA, etc.). So from a youth perspective soccer is getting bigger, starting with the kids and this automatically creates fans and brings adults into the sport. Jacksonville is home to two semi pro soccer clubs. The FC JAX Destroyers have a men's franchise in the USL Premier Development League that began play in the 2011 season, they have the highest attendance in the PDL[u/] with around 1500. That same, organization plans to field a women's franchise in the W-League for 2012. Jacksonville is also home to Jacksonville United FC, a semi pro club who Plays in the NPSL. Jax United FC won the NPSL SouthEast division championship and the National championship in its inagural season of 10/11, they have an attendence of around 700 per game. Geographically Jacksonville has the best chance of any Floridian team to be successful. Jacksonville is located 30 minutes south of Georgia, Meaning the entire southern half of georgia is within a 2-3 hour drive. Orlando soccer fans are within 2 hours, tampa soccer fans within 3 hours, Tallahassee fans within 2 hours, Charleston soccer fans are 3-4 hours away, Brandenton(US soccer youth academy) is within 2 hours away. This means that Jacksonville has the potential to not only be the MLS team for Jacksonville, but be the immediate MLS team for central Florida, north to South Carolina and west to Tallahassee. And for the more dedicated soccer fans from Miami, Atlanta, and out west towards Pensacola who are willing to drive 5 hours for a professional soccer game. Not to mention those to far away to make every game would certainly come out to play off games and make 1-2 games a season. Jacksonville TV market is currently listed at #47 in the united states. This isn't the most ideal number for an expansion team, but it certainly isnt the worst and if Jacksonville received an MLS team it would be able to sell its TV rights to its neighboring cities who have a large soccer following. Including,Atlanta(8),Tampa-St.Petersburg(13), Miami-FT.Lauderdale(16), Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne(19),West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce(38),Ft. Myers-Naples(62),Columbia(79),Savannah(96), and Charleston(99) just to name a few. Why doesn't Jacksonville Jaguars sell out their stadiums? The Jacksonville Jaguar NFL team does not sell out its stadium very much, there are reasons for this. Our stadium is one of the biggest with a capacity of 76,867 (Cowboys,Redskins, and Jets/Giants stadium only bigger). We have not been a great franchise, 2 winning seasons in the last 10 years will drop the attendance in ANY franchise world wide. Yes, uur average attendance to Jaguar football games is 63,032(24th best in nfl but within spitting distance to Atlanta(15th) in 2010. Not the best attendance record by any means but, in a city where most FOOTBALL fans follow college football instead of pro, it can be expected. MLS wouldn't compete with college football, MLS season is almost over when college football starts, and as long as games are not on the same day there wouldn't be a problem. Attendance? The average attendance in the MLS league wide in 2010 was 16,675. With Seattle at 36,173 at the highest(2nd LA with 21,437), and San Jose with 9,659 being the lowest average attendance. In Jacksonville i predict we could have an average attendance above 20,000 and with bigger games(NY,LA, etc) see those numbers go up to 25,000. Based on attendance to the semi pro games, USMNT games in Tampa, and other major cities in the area, Jacksonville population, and Jaguar game attendance. Jacksonville should receive a World cup qualifier for a home game (or friendly) to gauge the actual attendance IN Jacksonville. Where would they play. Don Garber has said that every expansion team needs a stadium. Jacksonville has Everbank stadium(76,867), Hodges Stadium (9,300), D. B. Milne Field(5,000), and a few bigger high schools with a capacity of around 5-8,000. Meaning, Jacksonville would need to build a new stadium, there are an endless possibilities on location but i think it would be narrowed down to two different spots. Next to FCSA(read up about youth soccer to know more about FCSA[Above]) is an area of land that belongs to the city, it is an area with nothing but a Forrest and a stadium could be built there. Another good location would be downtown next to Everbank arena and the sports complex, there is room there to build a stadium and it could share a parking lot with the sports complex. Where does the money come from? Not many investors have come out and stated they are willing to invest in MLS in Jacksonville. But Jacksonville do have a lot of potential investors. This is where we as fans need a showing, show MLS and investors that we WANT a club here, and that we will support it. There is a small group of investors that have invested in Jacksonville United FC as a feeler, hopefully for bigger and better things. I will keep this updated and post any and all news. We certainly have the soccer fans with the money needed,living here, we just need to show we can support a club. Not to mention the owners of Manchester United are from Florida. There are people like Beckham who have come out and said they they want to invest in a future expansion club. I plan on starting a Facebook group very shortly, and if we got 100,000 people to say they are very interested, maybe we can show any future investors. Will update this post Often. -This is to gauge interest, and to see what problems other educated members can come up with. If its plausible I will continue with a Facebook group and try to get over 100,000 people to join saying that they would support a Jacksonville MLS club. -This is the first draft so expect A LOT of changes and edits. -AJ PS: if your response is something like "bad idea, wont work" please refrain from posting. Please tell us why you don't like something, instead of making a useless post.
MLS? No, sorry. Jacksonville is one of the smallest media markets with a pro team (50th and falling in 2011-12). Be honest: without proven actual support, do you think MLS will take a city that is fending off rumors of moving the Jags seriously? (and this is coming from a Jags fan) And I wouldn't hold your breath before those 100,000 Facebook likes. Only three MLS Teams have 100,000 likes, and fewer than half have 50,000. I would love to see it someday, but do what Orlando is doing: get a good owner, and prove your support in the minor leagues first.
Jacksonville already has a decent foundation: they drew 1,000 per game to their PDL team AND 500 per game to their NPSL team last year, neither of which are bad starts. I suspect at the very least those two will be swapped next year, especially since Jacksonville United, I dunno, only won the NPSL Championship and all. If they can build on that, perhaps take their show to USL Pro or NASL, they can be on their way. But with the drama around the Jags and alot of support already pulled by the Sharks, it's going to be an uphill climb.
Hard to imagine, honestly. At best Jacksonville sits behind 3/4 other cities in the state when it comes to the prospect of getting a MLS team, imho.
jacksonville would be the best market for mls in florida. no distractions! if the jags leave, it would be even better for an mls team. they have the demographics and income level for mls, not nfl. if the league pays attention, it could payoff big in Jacksonville.
The Jags are not going anywhere. The rumor only started because LA wants an NFL team and they are trying to buy a team. Wayne Weaver has REPEATEDLY promised the Jaguars are not for sale. And we are not even close to having the lowest attendance in NFL... If you want to bring NFL into the equation, chew on this bit of info: Tampa bay had the 2nd lowest attendence last year. By extension the bucs are the home team of Orlando. The majority of their fanbase come from Tampa and Orlando. Jacksonville Jags, that doesn't really share a fan base with another major city has an average of 15,000 more fans then Tampa bay bucs.
Yeah, the moving crap annoys the ever-loving f*** out of me. ESPN loves stoking that shit, too. I hope Wayne Weaver sues them for meddling in his business someday. (Besides, we all know the Chargers are moving to LA. And the Raiders probably should move to LA.) The only reason I mentioned it myself is because of the ESPN factor. Although we know better, many people eat that shit up. Which is why I suggest MLS would find it hard to take Jacksonville seriously under those conditions without proof of actual soccer support. I think the NFL prefers this for the Jags, actually. Which is fine by me.
Jax is simply too far away for me to support it in any way other than buying some of their team stuff if they are, in fact, Florida's lone entry into MLS. I *might* attend a game in Orlando & would attend a game in Tampa/St Pete since I lived there for awhile, and will support any team in the SE Fl tri-county, but Jax is just too far away to be a team I'd support.
I cant see it. But yeah I would probably pull for them if it ever happened or if south Florida doesnt get a team. Heck I might even get to attend matches one of these days as Jax is less than 6 hrs away from me. Jacksonville Sharks. Landshark Stadium colors teal & yellow. Heck Landshark beer could be their sponsor. Call Jimmy Buffet now. Jacksonville Phantoms(old haunted lighthouse). Jacksonville Pirates. Heck Landshark beer could be their sponsor. Call Jimmy Buffet now.
First of all, I would go crazy (happy) if Jacksonville could land an MLS team. I don't know if it's a legitimate idea or not, but we weren't supposed to get the Jags either. I'd support them and I know many others who would.