U.S. Soccer announced a multi-year partnership agreement with popular seven-a-side competition The Soccer Tournament.
In a joint press release, the U.S. soccer federation and TST revealed the new strategic partnership that is aimed at continuing the growth of TST, as U.S. soccer continues to try and find new ways to support the overall growth of the sport in an effort to reach new audiences.
“This new partnership reflects that we recognize new formats of soccer help to grow interest and participation in the game. We’re excited to work with TST and support new soccer competitions—staying true to our mission of working in service to soccer,” U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said.
Some might be wondering, what is the TST? Well, the TST is an annual, week-long 7-v-7 soccer tournament that held its inaugural edition in 2023. Traditionally celebrated on the first week of June, the 2025 tournament saw 48 men's teams and 16 women's teams compete for the championship and a $1 million prize.
Continuing to grow the game across the country and engaging with the next generation of soccer fans.
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) July 8, 2025
We are excited to announce a strategic partnership with @TST7v7.
📰 https://t.co/7sMdLliahR pic.twitter.com/yuR32rBGni
World recognized teams and former players took part in the competition. West Ham United, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Club América are among the professional clubs that had a team competing in the 2025 edition.
Former players like Serio Agüero and Nani had teams competing in the tournament and other recognized player like Diego Godín, Anton Ferdinand, João Miranda, Miguel Layún and Tiago Mendes also featured on the pitch.
Bumpy Pitch FC, with former USMNT player Edgar Castillo on their ranks, won the men's tournament in 2025. On the women's side, U.S. Women, led by former USWNT stars Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger and Allie Long, took home the trophy and the millionaire prize.
“We’re only three years old now, and we’ve kind of hit on this market unexpectedly, very quickly,” TST founder and CEO Joe Murgar said. “U.S. Soccer can help us figure out the puzzle as far as how to grow, how to scale it geographically. They’re just ideal from that perspective.”
It's abundantly clear U.S. Soccer's efforts to help grow the sport and seeing it reach the same level of prominence and relevance within the U.S. than it does globally continues to be of significant importance.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as U.S. Soccer, TST Announce Strategic Partnership in New Effort to Help Grow Sport.
