u/TheLadsCheer4Beers

EDIT: Originally posted this in the Sporting JAX sub, but Reddit's filters removed it. The mod hasn't been active in 9 days, so reposting it here.

This club is fascinating to me. The stadium project doesn't appear to me to be one of the many AI slop garbage hope and dreams released by many clubs but a legitimate project. They have acquired the land and are currently in the permitting phase. But also look at who they've hired to run it. These are just what I could find that have been confirmed to be working on the project.

Haskell - (Predevelopment, pre-construction, engineering, permitting etc.) - Haskell is a massive company doing over $3B a year. They're a local Jacksonville company and have done a ton of massive projects. They're currently doing the Jags $120m office and practice facilities and many bigger more boring utility projects.

Nelson Worldwide - They're mixed-use/ stadium district architects. That's their specialty. The backbone and focus of this project is the shopping, restaurants, hotel outside of the stadium. For a place like Jacksonville where there isn't a large densely populated "downtown" like most cities this is important for long term success IMO. NELSON worked on the mixed use areas for the Braves, Eagles, Vikings, Reds, NASCAR fan zone and University of Tennessee's Neyland district.

They have investment from Momentous Sports. I don't know a ton about them but it's a bunch of former athletes and the Chick-Fil-A CEO. Only noteworthy for the possibility of a "Eat More Chikin Stadium" naming rights deal. Shoutout to the best bad qb Blake Bortels who's also an investor with momentous.

They also merged with Florida Elite (youth soccer) last year. Florida elite was Floridas biggest club and one of the biggest in the country. So right off the bat they now have one of the biggest academies in the country by enrollment wise. I know that doesn't mean quality but it is a significant asset in its own right.

Their women's team is very legit for a first year club and about to start season 2. They seem to be setup to be very good again.

All that being said. Their mens team is horrible. They have made some signings recently including former USMNT defender Ventura Alvarado. So hopefully won't get completely spanked like their last game vs Sac Rep. The mens sporting side of the club is a bit of a mess. Steve Livingstone was the CEO for awhile and he's got a track record of being horrible. However, he's got that Scottish accent so obviously is a soccer genius. He was let go in March so hopefully things on that side will start to get better.

Also for people who don't know Jacksonville if you look at a map and you see downtown Jax and see that this stadium sits 10 miles south you think it's in a bad spot away from the city. However, Jacksonville is the largest city in the country by square milage. Jacksonville's population distribution is heavily weighted south of Downtown. It's not like most other cities people are accustomed to. It will sit adjacent to a location called town center (very original name) which is a big upscale shopping/restaurant area already. They get over 10M people visiting a year. It's already a main attraction for the city. The traffic is obviously a concern, they've been doing construction on the highway directly outside of site for years to elevate some of that. But it's also Florida so they'll be doing road construction there for eternity. Anyway long rant but this team/club ownership seems to be stable for the long term.

This club is fascinating to me. The stadium project doesn't appear to me to be one of the many AI slop garbage hope and dreams released by many clubs but a legitimate project. They have acquired the land and are currently in the permitting phase. But also look at who they've hired to run it. These are just what I could find that have been confirmed to be working on the project.

Haskell - (Predevelopment, pre-construction, engineering, permitting etc.) - Haskell is a massive company doing over $3B a year. They're a local Jacksonville company and have done a ton of massive projects. They're currently doing the Jags $120m office and practice facilities and many bigger more boring utility projects.

Nelson Worldwide - They're mixed-use/ stadium district architects. That's their specialty. The backbone and focus of this project is the shopping, restaurants, hotel outside of the stadium. For a place like Jacksonville where there isn't a large densely populated "downtown" like most cities this is important for long term success IMO. NELSON worked on the mixed use areas for the Braves, Eagles, Vikings, Reds, NASCAR fan zone and University of Tennessee's Neyland district.

They have investment from Momentous Sports. I don't know a ton about them but it's a bunch of former athletes and the Chick-Fil-A CEO. Only noteworthy for the possibility of a "Eat More Chikin Stadium" naming rights deal. Shoutout to the best bad qb Blake Bortels who's also an investor with momentous.

They also merged with Florida Elite (youth soccer) last year. Florida elite was Floridas biggest club and one of the biggest in the country. So right off the bat they now have one of the biggest academies in the country by enrollment wise. I know that doesn't mean quality but it is a significant asset in its own right.

Their women's team is very legit for a first year club and about to start season 2. They seem to be setup to be very good again.

All that being said. Their mens team is horrible. They have made some signings recently including former USMNT defender Ventura Alvarado. So hopefully won't get completely spanked like their last game vs Sac Rep. The mens sporting side of the club is a bit of a mess. Steve Livingstone was the CEO for awhile and he's got a track record of being horrible. However, he's got that Scottish accent so obviously is a soccer genius. He was let go in March so hopefully things on that side will start to get better.

Also for people who don't know Jacksonville if you look at a map and you see downtown Jax and see that this stadium sits 10 miles south you think it's in a bad spot away from the city. However, Jacksonville is the largest city in the country by square milage. Jacksonville's population distribution is heavily weighted south of Downtown. It's not like most other cities people are accustomed to.

It will sit adjacent to a location called town center (very original name) which is a big upscale shopping/restaurant area already. They get over 10M people visiting a year. It's already a main attraction for the city. The traffic is obviously a concern, they've been doing construction on the highway directly outside of site for years to elevate some of that. But it's also Florida so they'll be doing road construction there for eternity. Anyway long rant but this team/club ownership seems to be stable for the long term.