Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg

The Tampa Bay Rowdies host their first 2026 USL Championship playoff match at Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Petersburg on Friday, October 30, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. ET, against the Eastern Conference 8th seed.

The club clinched the 2026 USL Championship Players' Shield on Saturday night with a 1-0 home win over second place Detroit City FC at Al Lang Stadium, which gives the Rowdies home field advantage throughout the 2026 playoffs (Tampa Bay Rowdies match report, October 18, 2026). The Rowdies say the clean sheet was their 15th shutout of the season, matching the single season club record set in 2021, the last year they won the Players' Shield.

The playoff run follows a 2025 season in which the Rowdies missed the postseason, which the club says happened for only the second time since it joined the league in 2017 (Tampa Bay Rowdies, September 27, 2026). By the club's count it sat first in the regular season standings with 52 points from 26 matches on September 27, 2026, before clinching the top seed in October. The club describes the playoffs as single elimination in a fixed bracket for the top eight teams in each conference, ending with the USL Championship Final on the penultimate weekend of November.

Rowdies tickets for Al Lang Stadium are digital, handled through the club's ticket office at (727) 222-2000 and the Rowdies app, and the stadium box office no longer sells hard copy tickets on site.

The club's ticket office takes calls at (727) 222-2000 and email at [email protected] (Tampa Bay Rowdies ticket office). For the October 30 playoff match, the Rowdies say season ticket members are contacted directly by the sales office, and that groups and buyers of premium or hospitality spaces use the same phone number or [email protected] (Tampa Bay Rowdies).

The Rowdies fan guide says the Al Lang Stadium box office has gone digital: fans scan the QR code at the box office windows or carry tickets in the Rowdies app, and on game days the windows at Gate 1 and Gate 4 open 90 minutes before kickoff for customer service only (Rowdies A to Z Fan Guide).

Discount programs are the club's own offers. The Rowdies say active duty and retired military members, first responders and teachers get special pricing throughout the regular season after verifying through ID.me, and that students get $10 tickets to all regular season matches with a verified .edu email address (Tampa Bay Rowdies discounted tickets). Those discounts are described for the regular season, so a St. Petersburg student planning on the October 30 playoff match checks the playoff price separately.

At Al Lang Stadium, Rowdies gates open one hour before kickoff, a clear bag policy applies, and every gate has metal detectors and bag checks, according to the club's fan guide.

The Rowdies suggest entry gates by seating section: Gate 2 for sections 100 to 106 and 200 to 209, Gate 3 for sections 107 to 113, 210 to 219 and 305 to 309, and Gate 6 for MF 1 to 8 (Rowdies A to Z Fan Guide). Guest Services is in the central concourse near Sections 105 and 106, and the stadium elevator is inside Gate 2.

The club's supporters stand in general admission safe standing sections 109 to 113, where each row has a rail with a cup holder instead of seats. Al Lang Stadium permits tailgating in Lot B, and the club says parking lots open two and a half hours before kickoff; accessible parking in Lot B is subject to availability, general parking for the regular season costs $15 to $30 depending on the game, and Lot A and Lot B are listed at 230 First St. S. (Tampa Bay Rowdies). Fans may not bring alcoholic beverages into Al Lang Stadium or carry any out of it, including from suites.

The club's own guide gives the stadium address two ways: 230 First St. S., 33701 for the lots and 230 1st St SE, 33704 for anthem singer mail (Rowdies A to Z Fan Guide). For fans without a permit, the same guide lists nearby garages such as the Platinum Parking Garage across from the stadium at 100 Second Ave. S. and the Mahaffey Parking Garage at 400 First St. SE, and says the free Downtown Looper trolley passes Al Lang Stadium, with Stop #15 serving the Hilton and the Mahaffey garage.

The Rowdies say the St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved, on August 6, 2026, a one year extension of their agreement to manage and operate Al Lang Stadium as primary tenant through November 2027.

In the club's statement, the Rowdies said they look ahead to their 17th season at Al Lang Stadium in 2027 (Tampa Bay Rowdies, August 6, 2026). The club's history dates the move to 2011, when FC Tampa Bay relocated to St. Petersburg's Al Lang Stadium to compete in the NASL (Rowdies club history). The vote, the unanimous count and the November 2027 term all come from the club's announcement; no City of St. Petersburg record of the August 6, 2026 vote is cited here, so the financial terms of the extension are not stated.

An earlier city record shows money tied to the stadium deal. The City of St. Petersburg budget and finance page lists Resolution 22-567, Al Lang & Rowdies Agreement, 200,000, in its budget amendments list under the date 2022-11-10 (City of St. Petersburg Budget and Finance). The city page lists the amount without a dollar sign or a description of what it funded.

The club is already selling the year the extension covers: its season ticket pricing page says the prices listed are for the full 2027 season, with details at 727-222-2000 or [email protected] (Rowdies season ticket pricing).

Yes: the City of St. Petersburg listed Al Lang Stadium among city facilities needing repair after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and later reported those repairs completed within budget.

A City of St. Petersburg hurricane recovery update dated March 5, 2025 said Al Lang Stadium repairs were in progress and would be ready for the Tampa Bay Rowdies first home game of the season, in the same list as Tropicana Field repairs and the Lake Vista Recreation Center (City of St. Petersburg, March 5, 2025).

The city's February 18, 2026 State of the City release later listed Al Lang Stadium, with Tropicana Field, Bear Creek Canal, Lake Vista Recreation Center and two St. Petersburg seawalls, among major city facilities whose storm related repairs were completed within budget (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 State of the City). Neither city page gives a repair cost for Al Lang Stadium. Last verified: October 18, 2026, by re-reading two City of St. Petersburg releases, the city budget and finance page and the Tampa Bay Rowdies club pages.

The club's history says the Rowdies were established in 1975, won the NASL Soccer Bowl in their first season, and won an indoor title at St. Petersburg's Bayfront Center in 1976.

According to the club, the original Rowdies beat the Portland Timbers 2-0 in San Jose, California to win the 1975 Soccer Bowl, and in 1976 won the NASL indoor season with a 6-4 final over the Rochester Lancers at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay Rowdies history). The modern club traces to 2008, when a new group founded FC Tampa Bay Rowdies, which played its first season in 2010 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

The club history lists the St. Petersburg era in order: the 2011 move to Al Lang Stadium; 2012, when the club reacquired the Rowdies name and won its second NASL Soccer Bowl before a sold out crowd at Al Lang Stadium; an October 25, 2016 announcement of a move to the United Soccer League for 2017; an October 2, 2018 sale to the Tampa Bay Rays; and an Eastern Conference title in the shortened 2020 season, whose final was canceled due to COVID-19 (Rowdies club history).