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Sporting Jax schedule: When will Jacksonville's women's soccer club kick off in USL?
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- Sporting Jax schedule: When will Jacksonville's women's soccer club kick off in USL?
Sporting Club Jacksonville released its inaugural schedule for the 2025-26 season in the USL Super League, which marks the debut of women's first-division professional soccer in Northeast Florida.
The circled date for regular season kickoff is Saturday, August 23, matching Sporting Jax — the club that includes Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor among its ownership group — against DC Power FC at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.
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Jacksonville will have the only expansion team for 2025-26 in the league, which kicked off its first season in August 2024 with eight clubs. Scheduled to join for future years are franchises in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Indianapolis; Madison, Wisconsin; Oakland, California; Palm Beach; Phoenix; and Tucson, Arizona.
The 2025-26 season will also be the league's first with title sponsorship from Gainbridge.
That kickoff would mark not only the city's debut in women's soccer, but the first game for a Jacksonville franchise in a fully professional soccer league of any type since the Jacksonville Armada defeated the San Francisco Deltas 2-0 on Oct. 28, 2017 in the North American Soccer League. The NASL has remained inactive since.
The Armada continues to compete with a U-23 squad in the non-professional National Premier Soccer League, and plans a future return to the professional ranks in the third-level MLS Next Pro league.
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How is the 2025-26 USL Super League season structured?
The season begins Aug. 23 and ends on May 16, 2026, with a winter break dividing the season.
Each team will compete in 28 games, which will mean 14 home games at UNF's Hodges Stadium for Sporting Jax. Of those 14 games, 12 will take place on Saturday nights at 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., with the only exceptions on Feb. 11 (a Wednesday) and May 3 (a Sunday).
Following the regular season, the top four teams progress to single-elimination playoffs, ending in the final on May 30, 2026.
All 129 games (126 regular season and three postseason) are available for streaming through Peacock.
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What's next for Sporting Jax women's soccer?
While the venue search process continues for the Sporting Jax men's team ahead of their kickoff in the second-level USL Championship, the women's squad is counting down fast until its first official match in just over three months.
The club, which hired Stacey Balaam as its first head coach in April, is in the scouting process for its roster ahead of preseason training in July.
Sporting Jax has also scheduled its inaugural uniform release at a 5 p.m. May 13 Fan Fest at Friendship Fountain, which includes music, entertainment and food sampling.
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2025-26 Sporting Jax USL Super League schedule
Aug. 23: vs. DC Power FC, 7 p.m.
Aug. 30: at Tampa Bay Sun, 8 p.m.
Sept. 6: vs. Dallas Trinity, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 13: vs. Carolina Ascent, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28: at Carolina Ascent, 2 p.m.
Oct. 4: at Brooklyn FC, 6 p.m.
Oct. 14: at DC Power FC, 7 p.m.
Oct. 18: vs. Tampa Bay Sun, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 31: at Lexington SC, 6 p.m.
Nov. 8: at Dallas Trinity, 5 p.m.
Nov. 22: vs. Fort Lauderdale United, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 6: at Tampa Bay Sun, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 13: vs. Fort Lauderdale United, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20: vs. Tampa Bay Sun, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 31, 2026: vs. Carolina Ascent, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 7: vs. DC Power FC, 7:30 p.m.
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Feb. 11: vs. Spokane Zephyr, 7 p.m.
Feb. 21: at Lexington SC, 2 p.m.
March 14: at Fort Lauderdale United, 7:30 p.m.
March 22: at Dallas Trinity, 5 p.m.
March 28: vs. Spokane Zephyr, 7:30 p.m.
April 4: vs. Brooklyn FC, 7:30 p.m.
April 11: at Fort Lauderdale United, 7:30 p.m.
April 19: at Spokane Zephyr, 7 p.m.
April 25: vs. Lexington SC, 7:30 p.m.
May 3: vs. Brooklyn FC, 5 p.m.
May 6: at DC Power FC, 7 p.m.
May 16: at Carolina Ascent, 7 p.m.
All schedules are as listed by the league, but are subject to change.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Club Jacksonville: 2025-26 USL Super League soccer schedule
