Rowdies to Host Birmingham in Open Cup Round of 32
April 18, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Following the draw by U.S. Soccer today, the Tampa Bay Rowdies will host Birmingham Legion FC in the Round of 32 of the storied Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Al Lang Stadium on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Tickets for the match are on sale now. Rowdies season ticket members will receive complimentary tickets and should expect to hear from their ticket representative on Friday morning. Fans can purchase tickets here . Please note, only seating select sections of the stadium will be available to purchase. For further questions, please contact the Rowdies ticket sales staff at tickets@rowdiessoccer.com or 727-222-2000.
Birmingham earned a spot in the Round of 32 by topping USL League One side Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 4-2 in extra time on Wednesday night. Last year, Birmingham reached the Quarterfinal Round of the Open Cup before falling 1-0 to Inter Miami FC. This will be the first meeting between the Rowdies and Birmingham in the tournament, but the two sides are familiar foes when it comes to knockout competition. The Rowdies have faced Birmingham in three of the last four USL Championship playoffs. Tampa Bay knocked Birmingham out of the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but Birmingham got the better of the Rowdies in last year's playoffs. The Rowdies will also host Birmingham at Al Lang on Saturday, May 11 for a regular season contest.
The Rowdies enter the Round of 32 alongside seven other USL Championship clubs and eight MLS teams to face the advancing 16 teams from the Third Round. In 2023, the Rowdies were knocked out of the competition in the Third Round by Houston Dynamo, who finished as tournament champions.
Now in its 109th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup - U.S. Soccer's Club Championship - has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy - one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports - now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.
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