Circle March 7 for the men’s soccer debut for Sporting Club Jacksonville.
Sporting Jax rolled out its schedule for its inaugural campaign on Dec. 16 in the second-level USL Championship, consisting of 34 competitive matches.
The season would be the first for Jacksonville in a fully professional men’s league since the Jacksonville Armada’s 2017 campaign in the since-inactive North American Soccer League. The Sporting Jax ownership group, which includes Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, received its USL franchise in August 2022.
Sporting Jax, under head coach Liam Fox, would play 30 standard league matches as well as four in the Prinx Tires USL Cup competition, with the possibility of postseason games depending on the season’s progress. The University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium is the designated venue for all 17 home games in 2026, with the club still working to develop a future soccer-specific stadium.
Several of the USL Championship opponents — Indy Eleven, Miami FC and Tampa Bay Rowdies — are familiar to longtime Jacksonville fans, competing against the Armada during NASL days. In subsequent years, Sporting Jax president Steve Livingstone has said, the club is targeting a place in a proposed USL-run league that would hold first-division status with the United States Soccer Federation.
The Sporting Jax men signed its first two players, Dida Armstrong and Luc Granitur, on Dec. 15. Head of soccer Mark Warburton said the team has nearly 20 players in camp, and plans to field a 24-man roster for the coming season.
Kickoff times and broadcast details for 2026 remain to be announced.
The Sporting Jax women’s soccer team, which competes in a fall-to-spring schedule in theGainbridge Super League, made its debut in August.
Sporting Club Jacksonville’s 2026 soccer schedule
USL Championship league matches unless noted
March 7, vs. Hartford Athletic
March 14, at Rhode Island FC
March 25, vs. Miami FC
March 28, at Pittsburgh Riverhounds
April 4, vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies
April 11, at Detroit City FC
April 18, at Louisville City FC
April 25, vs. Miami FC (USL Cup)
May 2, at Charleston Battery
May 9, at Indy Eleven
May 17, at Naples FC (USL Cup)
May 27, vs. San Antonio FC
May 30, vs. Brooklyn FC
June 6, vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL Cup)
June 10, at Monterey Bay FC
June 13, vs. Detroit City FC
June 20, vs. Charleston Battery
July 3, at Loudoun United
July 11, at South Georgia Tormenta FC (USL Cup)
July 15, vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds
July 18, vs. Brooklyn FC
July 25, at El Paso Locomotive
Aug. 1, at Sacramento Republic
Aug. 15, vs. Indy Eleven
Aug. 22, at Birmingham Legion
Aug. 29, at Brooklyn FC
Sept. 5, vs. Lexington SC
Sept. 12, vs. Rhode Island FC
Sept. 16, at Hartford Athletic
Sept. 26, vs. Loudoun United
Sept. 30, at Miami FC
Oct. 3, vs. Louisville City FC
Oct. 10, vs. Birmingham Legion
Oct. 24, at Tampa Bay Rowdies
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Jax men’s soccer releases 2026 USL Championship schedule
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