The Jacksonville Armada FC will call the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville home for their first three seasons.
The team unveiled details of a proposed lease agreement today which has them share the venue with the Jacksonville Suns. You can see the planned set-up for the field in the gallery attached to the left- on field seating and a “Beer Garden” will all be features of the set-up, which includes around 9,000 seats.
“It provides you that nice, intimate feeling that you want in a soccer match,” says Armada Owner Mark Frisch.
The Armada says more than 1/5th of season tickets have been reserved.
Under the proposal, which still needs to be approved by the City Council, the Armada would pay $10,000 per game for the estimated 20 home games each season. The City would give a capped $700,000 each year to help switch the field between soccer and baseball. The City has included this money in its budget proposal, which is due out on Monday.
Frisch says they’re leasing the Baseball Grounds for three years and there are renewal options included. While the team prepares for their inaugural season, however, he says they continue to explore building their own stadium as well.
“It’s very early in the process of that long term facility development,” he says.
He says they’re evaluating locations for where that stadium could be. He expects they would build something with roughly the same capacity at the Grounds. Frisch says he’s “optimistic” they would have a more permanent location when their lease with the Grounds is up, but they’re willing to consider all options.
Season tickets are now going on sale as well. Tickets start at $10 per game, and season ticket packages are available in one and three year deals.
