The world of sports marketing is always sure to offer plenty of challenges. These challenges become much greater when the club that’s being marketed doesn’t even have a name set in stone, though.

This is where Tony Allegretti, JAXUSL chief marketing officer, comes into play. He has learned that while combating these issues may be problematic, overcoming them is far from impossible.

Bringing a new club to a city like Jacksonville – the nation’s largest at 875 square miles – is not a job for the faint of heart. It requires a sincere understanding of the area and its residents. Allegretti, who has called Northeast Florida home for 27 years, knows this is a necessary step in building the new club.

“There’s parts of the community that seem completely different from other parts,” Allegretti said. “One of the best things about soccer is that it can quilt those areas together.”

To do this, JAXUSL decided early on to set out on a series of town hall listening tours. These took place all over the First Coast, from Fernandina Beach to Saint Augustine and everywhere in between. Despite cultural differences, they found that there’s an overarching cohesion among local soccer fans.

“Many of the ideas and the energy were very similar in all of the different places,” Allegretti added. “There’s an absolute passion and thirst for the beautiful game here and we believe that those things are going to be what stitches everyone together.”

As for JAXUSL’s teams themselves, men’s and women’s alike, the inevitable lack of official identity brought about in these early stages makes it tricky to get fans on board. It’s not easy to sell a product that, aside from basic infrastructure, doesn’t exist yet.

Without the typical branding of a sports team, a lot is up in the air. However, Allegretti points to early fan engagement both in the form of season ticket deposits and social media follows as a sign that Jacksonville wants pro soccer, even without a crest to admire at this stage.

“Even with those uncertainties, it allows us to really have the community help us shape it,” Allegretti said. “In a lot of ways, it can be an advantage.”

Starting from the ground up may not be an easy task, but JAXUSL isn’t on their own. With the help of its parent organization, the United Soccer league, these challenges can be curbed with the help of an organization that serves as a prime example of growing itself into something great.

“I can’t say enough about the support from the league,” Allegretti emphasized. All across the board, the USL has been involved in every step of JAXUSL’s early infancy. There’s never a shortage of expertise with the league, a point of emphasis that JAXUSL’s owners valued long before they knew they’d become a member of the USL.

“When we went about getting the team and getting it going, the most important thing was to get the right league. To do it with the USL, that was a great bet.”

Circling back to the local community, JAXUSL has set about with an all-inclusive mindset. Operating within such a diverse area, the group hopes to serve everyone – soccer fans or not. Involvement like this can help grow seeds within those who may not have grown up watching the sport and creating new fans.

“Making sure everyone comes along and is included is a massive part of how we want to do it,” Allegretti said.

Jacksonville’s people are what makes it Jacksonville. As one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, it exists as a beacon of potential in the Southeast. With the city’s residents having created a unique cultural identity, JAXUSL hopes to tap into this and foster a major soccer identity within the area.

“I always say that the best thing about Jacksonville is meeting new people,” Allegretti said. “If you get out and around enough, there’s a lot of cool people to meet, which is a gift for us.”

This is something the group has already done a fair share of, with USL Game of the Week watch parties at local restaurants serving as a great opportunity for locals to familiarize themselves with the league and meet the faces behind JAXUSL.

With excitement surrounding the club beginning to buzz, some may be disappointed to see that it could be a year or more until JAXUSL is able to field a team. Allegretti believes that fans will find their new club to be well worth the wait.

“We’ve got lots of announcements, events and content on the way,” Allegretti shared. “Stick with us.”

With any new sports organization, it’s crucial that the right steps be taken early on in the process to ensure the best chance at success down the road. Through community engagement, involvement with the USL and honing in on unique facets of the area, Allegretti believes that JAXUSL is creating a successful brand the right way.