Jacksonville is home to a number of professional sports teams, and the city has a long history of athletics. The Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) compete at the major league level. Additionally, the PGA Tour is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, where it hosts The Players Championship every year. All Elite Wrestling, the second-largest professional wrestling promotion in the U.S. behind WWE, has its headquarters in the Jaguars' stadium, largely due to its shared ownership with the Jaguars.
In addition, Jacksonville has a number of minor league and semiprofessional sports teams. These include the Jacksonville Armada FC, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp baseball team, the Jacksonville Icemen ice hockey team, the Jacksonville Sharks indoor football team, the Jacksonville Axemen rugby league team, and the Jacksonville Giants basketball team.
Jacksonville is also home to two universities, Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida, which compete in NCAA Division I. Several college sporting events are also held in Jacksonville annually.
Professional sports Jacksonville is home to one major league professional team — the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League — and several minor league teams.
Club Sport League Venue Jacksonville Jaguars Football National Football League EverBank Stadium (67,246)Sporting Club JacksonvilleSoccerUSL ChampionshipTBD Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Baseball International League 121 Financial Ballpark (11,000) Jacksonville Icemen Ice hockey ECHL VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (13,141) Jacksonville Sharks Indoor football Indoor Football League VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (13,011) Jacksonville Armada Soccer MLS Next Pro TBD
American football Football is by far the most popular sport in the Jacksonville area. The city is home to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). The only major league-level sports team to play in Jacksonville, the Jaguars currently play in South Division of the NFL's American Football Conference (AFC).
The Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1995, along with the Carolina Panthers. In 1990, the NFL had announced it would expand by two teams, and Jacksonville entered the bidding war. Jacksonville was the smallest market among the bidders, and was considered the unlikeliest choice. However, in 1993, after a series of negotiations, the NFL announced that the second franchise would go to Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jaguars play at TIAA Bank Field in downtown Jacksonville. The Jaguars have won five division championships, in 1998, 1999, 2017, 2022, and 2025 and they have made nine playoff appearances.
Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. As the smallest metropolitan area to ever host a Super Bowl, special accommodations were necessary, such as the use of cruise ships as hotels.
Jacksonville also has a number of amateur football teams, including the Jacksonville Dixie Blues, a women's football team in the Women's Football Alliance, and the Jacksonville Knights of the Florida Football Alliance.
Expansion efforts: 1960s–1980s
The success of college football led to interest in bringing professional football to Jacksonville, which began in earnest in the 1960s. In 1966, the New York Jets and the expansion Miami Dolphins played an exhibition game in the Gator Bowl, and this was followed by preseason games with the Boston Patriots facing the Miami Dolphins in 1968 and the Denver Broncos in 1969. In 1967 and 1968, the city hosted the American Football League All Star Game at the Gator Bowl. Jacksonville was the only non-AFL city to host the game. It was presumed at the time that this was a prelude to Jacksonville getting an AFL expansion team, but when the AFL merged with the rival NFL in 1970 expansion plans were scrapped. The city also hosted a number of NFL preseason games throughout the 70s and 80s.
Jacksonville's first attempt at professional football came in 1926, when former Stanford University star Ernie Nevers organized the Jacksonville All-Stars to play exhibition games against traveling NFL opponents. The All-Stars faced the Chicago Cardinals and their star Red Grange on January 2, and the New York Giants on January 9; however, both games drew meager crowds, and the All-Stars subsequently ended operations. Jacksonville had its first professional football team in 1974 with the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League, a short-lived attempt to establish a rival to the NFL. The Sharks' financial troubles led the league to fold the team; the franchise was revived the following year as the Jacksonville Express. However, the WFL folded before the end of the 1975 season. The Jacksonville Firebirds played in the American Football Association, a spring minor league, for three seasons, 1979–1981. In 1984 professional football returned with the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League (USFL). The Bulls set many USFL attendance records, including the only two sell-out games; however the league ceased operations after the 1985 season.
The success of these earlier attempts generated interest in bringing the NFL to Jacksonville. Several NFL teams discussed moving to the city over the years, with the Baltimore Colts and the Houston Oilers making the most serious offers.
Baseball Minor League Baseball has been played in Jacksonville nearly every year since the early 20th century. The city's current team are the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, who currently play in International League since 2021. Two teams named the Suns have played in Jacksonville since 1962: A class Triple-A International League team from 1962–1968, and a Double-A team (renamed to the Jumbo Shrimp in 2017) from 1970 to 2020. They play at 121 Financial Ballpark in Downtown Jacksonville.
Hockey Ice hockey returned to the city in 2017 when the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL were announced for the 2017–18 season. The team came from Evansville, Indiana, after a one-year hiatus and is the second ECHL team for the city of Jacksonville after the Jacksonville Lizard Kings ceased operations in 2000. The Jacksonville Icemen are the sixth hockey team to be based out of Jacksonville, with the historical list of teams in order of presence in the city being the Jacksonville Rockets from 1964 to 1972, the Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) for the 1972-73 AHL season, the Jacksonville Bullets from 1992 to 1996, the Jacksonville Lizard Kings from 1995 to 2000, and the Jacksonville Barracudas from 2002 to 2008.
Indoor football Jacksonville is home to the Jacksonville Sharks, an indoor football team, who started play in 2010. From 2010 to 2016, the Sharks played in the Arena Football League (AFL), the top indoor football league in the United States. They left the league prior to the 2017 season and joined the National Arena League, a newly formed league with no association with the Arena Football League. The city was previously home to the Jacksonville Tomcats, who played in af2, the AFL's developmental league, from 2000 to 2002, at which point the old Jacksonville Coliseum was demolished to make way for the current arena.
The Sharks won one AFL championship, defeating the Arizona Rattlers 73–70 in Arena Bowl XXIV.
Soccer Sporting Club Jacksonville is an American professional soccer club located in Jacksonville, Florida. The club debuted in the USL Championship in 2025.
The Jacksonville Armada FC is Jacksonville's professional soccer team who began play in 2015 as an expansion team in the North American Soccer League (NASL), which was the second tier in the American soccer pyramid at that time. As of 2016, U.S. Men's National Team's Tony Meola took on the role of head coach. The Armada used to played their home games at University of North Florida at the Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville. After the 2017 season, the NASL ceased operations and the Armada temporarily joined the amateur National Premier Soccer League while looking for another professional league. The team then went on hiatus after the 2018 season. They are set to resume play in MLS Next Pro league in 2025.
Golf and tennis The Greater Jacksonville area is at the top level of professional golf. The PGA Tour is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, where it hosts The Players Championship every year. The championship is one of the major stops on the PGA Tour, and is regarded as the most prestigious non-major tournament on the tour. St. Johns County is also home to the World Golf Village and the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Jacksonville area has around 64 golf courses, of which 18 are public, 18 are semi-private, 15 are private and 13 are resort courses. Several PGA Tour players make the Jacksonville area their year-round home.
Professional tennis is in town each year when the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) holds the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island Plantation near Fernandina Beach, just north of Jacksonville. Additionally, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has its American headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Semi-pro and amateur sports
Australian Rules Football The Jacksonville Saints were formed in 2018. They train at Alexandria Oaks Park in San Marco and play matches at Willowbranch Park in Riverside. In 2021 they won the inaugural Florida Cup and the Magnolia Cup.
Basketball The Jacksonville 95ers have played in The Basketball League (TBL) since 2024. They play their home games at Edward Waters University.
Rugby league Rugby league football, has a unique presence in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Axemen, founded in 2006, are one of the most successful rugby league football teams in the United States, both on and off the field. They currently play in the new USA Rugby League. They previously played in the American National Rugby League (AMRNL) from 2006–2010, advancing to the playoffs four times in five years and winning the championship in 2010. Beginning in 2011, the Axemen oversee a reserve grade competition, the Southeastern Rugby League Championship, contested by three feeder teams, including the Jacksonville Hatchets.
The Axemen play at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida, which has also hosted a number of international matches and training camps. UNF hosted the Rugby League Atlantic Cup, a tournament between emerging rugby league nations in North America, in 2009 and 2010. In 2008 the school hosted the "Australia Day Challenge" between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Leeds Rhinos, which featured Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe and drew nearly 13,000 spectators. The New Zealand Police Rugby League team has also played at UNF against both the Axemen and a South Eastern Rugby League team. The Axemen began fielding a women's side in 2021 and have had players represent the US on the national side in 2022.
Rugby union
There are multiple amateur rugby union clubs in the city. Jacksonville Women's Rugby Club was founded in 2006 and have played women's division 2 since its founding. The men's team, Jacksonville Rugby Football Club was founded in 1972 and play FL division 3. The UNF Deadbirds is a club team at the University of North Florida, consisting of UNF students and other college students in the area. The HS U19 boys side won the state championship in 2019.
Soccer The Jacksonville Armada U-23 is an amateur soccer team in the National Premier Soccer League. The team originated as the Jacksonville United FC in 2011 and won the 2011 NPSL Championship. In 2016, the United were replaced by the development team for the professional Jacksonville Armada FC. The U-23 team was temporarily replaced by Armada FC when that team took part in the 2018 season, but returned as the NPSL team in 2019 when the professional team suspended operations while looking for another league.
College sports