Family with construction firm buys interest in Sarasota soccer team

A family that owns a national construction management company has purchased an interest in Sarasota Paradise, a men's pre-professional soccer team. The Papanicholas family will help with short- and long-term facility strategies and capital improvements for the team and community, according to a statement from Sarasota Paradise.

Nicholas & Associates — which the Papanicholas family owns — oversees athletic, educational, commercial, governmental and residential construction projects. Headquartered in Illinois with an office in Tampa, the company was a jersey sponsor for Sarasota Paradise during the 2024 season.

“We love sports and have executed dozens of large-scale athletics projects, so this was a natural fit for us,” President of Nicholas & Associates Nick Papanicholas Jr. says in the statement. He is a managing member of the new entity the family created to join the Sarasota Paradise ownership.

Sarasota Paradise was started in 2023 by Marcus Walfridson, a Swedish entrepreneur who fell in love with Sarasota, where he saw the need for a local soccer team. He founded Audigr Group Inc., a global sports and entertainment enterprise that owns and operates Sarasota Paradise.

"The Papanicholas family purchased a stake in the club at a low/mid seven-figure valuation," Walfridson says in an email to the Business Observer. "Audigr Group Inc. is still the clear majority owner. We are in the process of adding additional individuals to the ownership group to anchor the club in the community while we continue the process towards professional soccer in Sarasota."

The Sarasota Paradise’s first home game in 2023 hosted 600 fans, and the season concluded with a turnout of more than 1,000 at the Sarasota High School soccer field. Sarasota Paradise was named New Organization of the Year in 2023 by the United Soccer Leagues. It also had its first player drafted into Major League Soccer. 

“Marcus has done a great job and has the vision and skills to bring something very special to the greater Sarasota area,” Papanicholas says. “We’re excited to be part of what he’s already accomplished and what’s to come.”

This season, Sarasota Paradise was the named the South Florida division champion and attended the playoffs in Asheville, North Carolina, according to the statement.

“We are extremely grateful for this partnership with the Papanicholas family as it will help the team continue building a foundation as we develop our team for 2025,” Walfridson says in a statement. “We started at the pre-professional level so that we could educate the community about the game, as well as bring unity, and we’re excited to see how Sarasota Paradise will transform over the next few years.”