Nathan Walter, President & General Manager, Jacksonville Armada FC

Nathan Walter, President and General Manager of the Jacksonville Armada FC, talked to Invest: about the opportunities that the Major League Soccer Next Pro league brings for the team. He also talked about the projected impact that the team’s stadium project will have in maturing the soccer fans’ market in Jacksonville, the main challenges that the team faces, and how the team leverages partnerships to seize opportunities.

What have been the main milestones that the Jacksonville Armada FC reached in the past year?

Considering the journey that we have been on since 2014, the past 12 months have been quite busy. Last year was special for us with the announcement of Major League Soccer Next Pro as a second-division umbrella under Major League Soccer. We had a little hiatus from professional soccer due to the complex landscape within professional soccer, so that announcement was amazing for us. It kicked-off our go-to-market strategy. 

We also had crucial legislation on the stadium project go through at the beginning of January and February. That has put us in a great position to finish off the year with a potential ground-break for that project in downtown Jacksonville. That will allow us to focus on reentering professional soccer. 

What is the strategy of the Jacksonville Armada FC to boost the local sports culture and promote soccer?

We are fortunate that the participation levels of soccer in Northeast Florida and Jacksonville particularly are impressive. There are over 35,000 registered adults and youths playing in various programs including the YMCA, the local youth clubs, and the adult leagues. Nevertheless, we need to mature the fan membership. That means showcasing what soccer culture is from the fan side of things. Jacksonville is an immature marketplace in terms of soccer support. We are on the precipice of becoming a mature one, but we need professional soccer in the market. 

The lack of professional soccer has hindered us from building that culture over the past four to five years. We had a program with the U23 men’s team playing at the semi-professional, fourth level of American soccer, but that is not enough as it is not a year-round season. We need that to cultivate the true supporter’s pathway and achieve a mature soccer supporters’ market. There is also a generational piece to it in Jacksonville.

Around 10 years ago, many parents of eight- and nine-year-olds may have played recreational soccer but did not support an MLS team. Now parents of those children not only have an MLS team but also may even have played at a good level in college. That makes it a good time for Jacksonville. While other markets like Miami, Orlando, New York, or Los Angeles which are further along in the maturation process than us, we are certainly close. It is the responsibility of the Jacksonville Armada to support that. 

What will it take for the Jacksonville Armada FC and for Jacksonville to become a more mature market for soccer?

Holding tournaments like the World Cup in the United States will help with that. Nevertheless, on the grassroots side of it, having infrastructure in place including a stadium that we can call home enables us to cultivate that maturity and grow supporters. When I looked at a crowd at a soccer game in Jacksonville five years ago when we played with the pro teams, only 25 percent of the people truly cared about the game and the remaining 75 percent were there for the entertainment and socializing sides of it.

While we are starting to see that change, we need to take both groups into consideration as we design a stadium. We are focusing on the core soccer fan to grow that passion but also on the casual soccer fan who wants to come, socialize, and enjoy the gameday experience. 

What are the most important challenges that the Jacksonville Armada FC faces in terms of its development as a team?

A big challenge is keeping the brand engaged. We have a National Premier Soccer League and a Women’s Premier Soccer League team, and the women’s team is only engaged in the market for three months per year. Moreover, we recently made a major move in the youth market where we will fund the U16, U17, and U19 teams of the MLS NEXT season, which is 11 months long. Those teams offer a major opportunity to engage people, but they are still not professional soccer. They do not have the content and engagement opportunities that you get with a pro team.

Moreover, on the business side of it, we are building partnerships and bringing partners on. The business community that we have engaged with are excited about it. We must sell both the product and the future when times are quiet. Nevertheless, once we break ground and people know that the stadium is a reality, we will get more interest on the business side of the Jacksonville Armada. 

What are the main partnerships and collaborations that the Jacksonville Armada FC is developing with private and public stakeholders?

While I cannot mention names at this point, I can say we have a medical provider whose partnership we are in the final steps of closing. It is a big move for them in the market, so it will make a big impact. We also have a personal injury law firm that recently came online in a five-year partnership and a uniform provider whose partnership we are finalizing. Under Major League Soccer, independent teams like us can go out and do a deal structure with a provider other than Adidas, which is the main sponsor of MLS.

There are some other cool things that we get to do outside of the MLS bubble across commercial rights. Stadium-naming rights. Those conversations are happening, are exciting and a lot of momentum is building toward those pieces. The financial sector has taken a huge interest in those stadium-naming rights, which allows us to provide a process for that. Moreover, the ownership group keeps the front of the jersey for now, but if the right number pops up, that could be an interesting opportunity. 

How are the demographic changes that Jacksonville experiences impacting the fan experience that Jacksonville Armada FC offers?

The diversity of Jacksonville has changed in the past decade. When we started the club in 2014, we were sitting at an MSA of around 800,000 people across Northeast Florida. We are now at 1.5 million. With that growth came diversity as there is a larger Hispanic population within the marketplace. There are also more refugees from Europe and the midwest in the marketplace, which brings the global game. In the case of Jacksonville, having more internationals is helping the sport grow itself.

There are also a lot of Americans being more influenced around the game, and the World Cup is a big part of it. There is a lot of talk about the impact that the 1994 World Cup had. When we look at the data for the 2026 World Cup, we could see a major growth in content and accessibility. That accessibility helps with the education of the sport. People are getting a better foothold in North America of what soccer is about and why it is so successful across the globe. We see that in markets like Charlotte, Atlanta, and Austin. The MLS Expansion teams have got the footprint right over the past five to 10 years because they have built the infrastructure and put the club into a blueprint that ensures success when they go to market. 

What measures or initiatives does the Jacksonville Armada FC have in place to ensure professional soccer standards?

We have been at the top as well as at the lowest of the low, and the standard should never change for us. We are fortunate to take things from successful teams like Manchester City, Barcelona, or Southampton as well as from smaller organizations like Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, whose business models fit their club and principles. We are now climbing back up the ladder. Our teams have been successful over the past five years, and we went through a conference season where our men’s and women’s teams did not lose at home because of the standards we set and the people we hired. 

We have some key principles that we want our players and staff to represent. When we hire a coach or someone in a leadership position, they are there because they share those values. We have a club-first mentality that goes across the organization. It is important to us that everybody is on the same path as we need to keep those high standards and execute.

What are the outlook and top priorities for the Jacksonville Armada FC in the next two to three years?

Infrastructure is always going to be a focus for us until we have the best. Even once we get the stadium done, we could look for an opportunity for a training facility. Personnel will also be important as we enter growth mode over the next 12 months. We need to bring in the right people and fill some positions. We also want to compete and win, so we need the best players that we can get on the field. That means being creative, recruiting, scouting, and checking data and metrics to build a roster for 2026.

We have watched the MLS Next Pro league for the last two years. We know its standards, and we want to make a big statement there from day one. We can do that in a sustainable way by being competitive and a top team in the league with the funds that are provided and our budget. If you become a team that does not win, that can get hard for you quickly, particularly in Jacksonville. Therefore, we need to ensure that we win both on and off the field. 

Finally, we need to ensure that our go-to-market strategy is spot-on in terms of everything from community engagement to our marketing assets. Who knows where we could be in five to 10 years. It is an exciting period for Jacksonville and the sports entertainment district specifically.