2025 Major League Soccer All-Star Game Heading to Austin
Q2 Stadium will host game for the first time
Posted On: May 15, 2024 By :The 2025 Major League Soccer All-Star Game will be played at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, the league announced on Wednesday at the home of Austin FC, which will host the game for the first time.
Q2 Stadium opened in June 2021 with a U.S. women’s national team match and then Austin FC played at home three days later in a scoreless draw. Along with being the home for Austin FC, the stadium has hosted the U.S. men’s national team in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals and a 2022 World Cup qualifying match. Q2 Stadium will also host two matches this summer in the Copa América
The opponent for the 2025 All-Star Game was not announced on Wednesday. The 2024 game will be July 24 at Lower.com Field in Columbus in a matchup of MLS All-Stars against a team from Liga MX; it was Columbus that Austin owner Anthony Precourt left for Texas in 2019, with the new team starting in 2021 at Q2 Stadium.
Austin is currently in eighth place in the Western Conference, one spot below the playoff line. Since its inaugural season the club has made the MLS Cup playoffs once, advancing to the West finals in 2022.
“We are thrilled to welcome the best in Major League Soccer to Austin in 2025 for the MLS All-Star Game,” said Drew Hays, executive director of the Austin Sports Commission. “Hosting this major event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our world-class stadium, passionate fan-base, and exciting city on one of soccer’s biggest stages. We estimate hosting the MLS All-Star Game will generate a minimum of $20 million in economic impact, as there will be no shortage of festivities surrounding All-Star week that Austinites and visitors can enjoy.”
The MLS All-Stars have won both previous All-Star Games against Liga MX, including the inaugural 2021 edition in Los Angeles and the 2022 match in Minnesota. Last year’s game in Washington, D.C., featured MLS All-Stars against Premier League team Arsenal with the Gunners winning 5-0.
The MLS All-Star Game has been part of the league since its inaugural season in 1996 with the first game at Giants Stadium. MLS initially used the traditional all-star game format adopted by other leagues, matching up teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The game has since gone in a variety of different formats including having one team made up of league-wide players against a European club that is already in the United States on a preseason tour, which has happened almost exclusively since 2005 featuring teams from either England but also on occasion Roma and Juventus from Serie A, Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga and Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid from La Liga. The only times in the past two decades MLS has not played a European club is when instead has matched against a Liga MX All-Star team.
“We are thrilled to bring the 2025 MLS All-Star Game to Austin, a market known for its rich cultural and entertainment scene and world-class events,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “Austin has quickly become one of the top soccer markets in our country, selling out 60 consecutive Austin FC matches and hosting many marquee soccer events the past three years. We look forward to working alongside the entire Austin FC staff and local leaders to deliver an unforgettable and exciting MLS All-Star Week for everyone.”
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