What is the cost?
It is April Fool’s Day and there was a recent announcement from the ownership of Sporting Club Jacksonville that it plans to build a soccer stadium-village in Jacksonville with a 15,000-seat venue as the centerpiece of a project that will also include restaurants, hotels, shopping, entertainment venues, and gathering spaces. Ricky Caplin, the majority owner and the chairman of Sporting JAX, claimed the development will be privately funded, backed by the club’s own capital. No price tag has been put on the development but privately funded does not necessarily mean privately funded. What does a fool believe? No public money? There could be a very public aspect to this in terms of creating a tax zone, having the public pick up the tab for infrastructure.
There was also “the project is so good for the area” statement. According to Sporting Club Jacksonville the project will provide “substantial long-term economic impact across North Florida.” There is a long way to go before Caplin can put a shovel in the ground. There needs to be regulatory approval to allow the construction of the project as the plot of land is located in a flood zone. Sporting Jacksonville has a franchise in the United Soccer League’s Super League, a Division One professional women’s soccer league. The Sporting Jacksonville or the Sporting JAX men’s team competes in the Division II USL Championship. The United Soccer League plans to go “major league”. The USL has been around since 2011 and has been considered a minor league or Division II grouping by the United States Soccer Federation. The USL has 25 franchises, most of them are in smaller markets which would not necessarily be considered major league markets. The league has some franchises in big-league markets including Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Oakland, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Antonio and the Tampa Bay area.
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