Soccer fans have a new reason to come to the city of Jacksonville as the North American Soccer League has signed the Jacksonville Armada FC for the 2015 season.
The club revealed its new uniform (soccer kit) Tuesday at an event at the Museum of Science & History.
Winn-Dixie secured the club's primary jersey sponsorship with front logo placement, while Key Auto Company’s logo will be featured on the right sleeve of the kit. Nike will serve as the club’s equipment and merchandise supplier.
Soccer is different than most sports when it comes to logos. While teams in other sports are recognized for their own logo, soccer team logos are less important than the sponsorship of the team.
Along with the announcement of the new logo and sponsorship, the club also launched a new 16 match season ticket package with seats starting at $10 per match.
Club owner Mark Frisch said he was excited to have a major Jacksonville company such as Winn-Dixie as their primary sponsor.
“Most people know the soccer uniforms by the jersey sponsor more so than the team’s crest on the jersey. So to have a great, local Jacksonville-based brand on our jersey is huge. We couldn’t be more thrilled with that,” said Frisch.
Mark Frisch, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, said it was only natural for him to want to bring a new soccer club back to his home city.
Club president Steve Livingstone expressed excitement about the newest NASL club being in Jacksonville.
“Really, Jacksonville chose us," said Livingstone. "An opportunity opened up last year to have an expansion team within the NASL. So we were able to harness that and bring professional soccer back to Jacksonville."
The Jacksonville Armada FC will have their first game in the spring of 2015.