First, in the 1970s, there were the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League.

In Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sharks admitted that anywhere from 14, 000 to 44, 000 people had attended their first two games for free or at significantly reduced prices.

In October, the league pulled the plug on the Wheels and the Sharks after 14 games ; the folding of the Jacksonville franchise meant that the Gator Bowl would not host World Bowl I.

The Jacksonville Sharks and Detroit Wheels were liquidated owing nearly $ 4 million, and Detroit had 122 creditors looking to recoup losses.

The deceased Sharks of Jacksonville came back as the ' Express.

In 2010, Jacksonville received an Arena Football League expansion franchise, which revived the Sharks name.

The Jacksonville Sharks name was later revived for a team in the 2010 revival of the Arena Football League.

Notable local announcers include John Sterling ( New York Stars / Charlotte Hornets television ), Spencer Ross ( New York Stars radio ), Bob Sheppard ( New York Stars PA ), Mike Patrick ( Jacksonville Sharks ), Larry King ( Shreveport Steamer ), Larry Matson ( Birmingham Americans / Birmingham Vulcans ), Fred Sington ( Birmingham Americans / Birmingham Vulcans ) and Eddie Doucette and Vince Lloyd ( Chicago Fire radio and TV respectively ).

* Jacksonville Sharks 1974 / Jacksonville Express 1975

They lost the game to the Jacksonville Sharks when Jacksonville quarterback Aaron Garcia threw a game-winning touchdown pass on the game's final play.

Arizona advanced to ArenaBowl XXIV, but lost to the Jacksonville Sharks in the championship.

In 2011, the Predators finished the regular season 11 – 7, but fell to the Jacksonville Sharks in the conference semifinals by a score of 63 – 48.

Aided by a Southern Division where nobody has pulled away, a three game winning streak, including an emotional victory over the Jacksonville Sharks has put the VooDoo in first place heading into the final month of the regular season.

Among the victims were the Jacksonville Sharks, Southern California Sun, Portland Storm, and Houston Texans.

# REDIRECT Jacksonville Sharks ( WFL )

( The team did however play one " controlled scrimmage " against the Jacksonville Sharks on Saturday, June 29, 1974.

The Americans travelled to Florida to face the Jacksonville Sharks, 27, 140 Jacksonville fans, and the Sharks ' new coach, Charlie Tate.

In the 2003 season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Panthers were losing 17 – 0.

The Jacksonville metropolitan area and television market were smaller than nearly every other city with a team.

The stadium's 10, 000 preferred seats were sold in just ten days, and Jacksonville officially returned to the bidding.

While attendance figures were stagnant for most of the NFL, Jacksonville saw an increase of 36. 5 %, by far the highest in the league, and had none of their home games blacked out.

Twelve cities were part of the bidding process, which was scheduled to award two Super Bowls ( XXIII and XXIV ) The bidding cities included: Anaheim, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Tempe.

At the time of contact with Europeans, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River.

Though no battles were fought in Jacksonville proper, the city changed hands several times between Union and Confederate forces.

Over the course of the decade, more than 30 silent film studios were established, earning Jacksonville the title of " Winter Film Capital of the World ".

These tropical cyclones were the costliest indirect hits to Jacksonville.

However, there were franchises in several cities without NFL teams which would later receive them, such as Jacksonville, Florida.

Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was buried at Jacksonville Memorial Gardens ( adjacent to the Orange Park Mall ) in Orange Park in 1977, but his remains were relocated to an undisclosed location after vandals broke into his tomb and the tomb of bandmate Steve Gaines on June 29, 2000.

The comparatively few residents of the area were largely cut off from Jacksonville Beach city services such as police, fire, garbage collection, and road developments, though they paid taxes in equal share.

When the gold deposits were worked out, and the railway bypassed Jacksonville in 1884, the city's economy slowed.

As transportation facilities continued to improve, all the county's small school districts were gradually absorbed into the 5 school districts that exist today: Wells, Alto, Rusk, Jacksonville, and New Summerfield.

New franchises were announced in 1993 to begin play in 1995 in Charlotte and Jacksonville.

As the 1916-1917 season approached, however, the mood towards filmmaking in Jacksonville shifted and there were many residents opposed to the industry's presence.

University of Florida officials maintain that it makes financial sense to keep the game in Jacksonville ; both universities stand to lose revenue if the game were played on a standard " home-and-away " basis.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, still had many veteran players thanks to the draft deferments of the players who were enrolled in the University of Georgia's ROTC program, and brought a 7 – 0 record and No. 1 ranking to Jacksonville.

The first meetings were held at " Mother Sam's ", a local plantation, and in 1861 a permanent meeting hall was erected in Downtown Jacksonville at Church and Julia Streets.

From 1985 – 1990 the team was known as the Jacksonville Expos, when they were affiliated with the Montreal Expos MLB team.

The Jacksonville Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida.

It held no playoffs at the end of the season ; the ascendant Barracudas were declared league champions, bringing Jacksonville its only professional hockey championship.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida.

When new professional leagues started up to challenge the NFL's post-merger monopoly on professional football, Jacksonville was ready to join.

The Jacksonville ROAR is the professional cheerleading squad of the Jaguars.

* Eugene Monroe ( born 1987 ), professional football player for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

* Montell Owens ( born 1984 ), professional football player for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The WFL also arguably had an impact on locations of other professional football teams: from the NFL, Hawaii hosted the Pro Bowl from 1980 through 2009, Jacksonville got the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995, Charlotte received the Carolina Panthers in the same year, and Houston's expansion franchise, the Texans, revived the name of the WFL team in 2002.

He turned professional in 1972 and won his first tournament at Jacksonville.

Jacksonville's first professional hockey team since the Jacksonville Lizard Kings folded in 2000, they played their first home games at the Jacksonville Coliseum.

Soon after the approval of the bond issue, investors interested in attracting a new National Football League team to Jacksonville requested that another $ 30 million be added to the $ 49 million renovations in order to make the stadium more attractive for a professional team.

The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Tyson Alualu, professional football player for the Jacksonville Jaguars

It also hosted the Florida – Georgia game, an annual college football rivalry game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia, and was home to several professional sports teams, including the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League ( WFL ), the Jacksonville Tea Men soccer team, and the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League.

In 1926 he went to Jacksonville, Florida, where he organized the Jacksonville All-Stars, the city's first attempt at a professional football team.