Lions, Rowdies renew rivalry in Open Cup

Orlando City SC and Tampa Bay last played in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Lions won 2-1 and went on to win the Cup, its first trophy of the MLS era.

Alexandre Pato of Orlando City SC celebrates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the Third Round of the 2022 US Open Cup. Photo: Orlando City SC

A feud renewed

The Tampa Bay Rowdies will host Orlando City SC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 tonight in the latest iteration of the I-4 Derby. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg and will be streamed on Paramount+.

But how big a deal is the Derby? The Lions and the Rowdies have played seven times since 2013, all in Disney City and all won by the Purple. Can such a meager and one-sided sample-size be called a rivalry?

Yes. Yes, it can.

• WHO: Tampa Bay Rowdies (1-5-1, 4 points, USL Championship) vs. Orlando City SC (4-2-5, 17 points, Major League Soccer)

• WHAT: 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Round of 32

• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

• WHERE: Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.

• TV: Paramount+

• RADIO: Tampa Bay — FM 92.9 The Game (English)

• RADIO: Orlando — FM 96.9 The Game and Real Radio 104.1 FM (English), Acción 97.9 FM/810 AM (Spanish)

Natural competitors

The teams’ stadiums, Inter & Co. and Al Lang, respectively, are 107.6 miles apart, making them next-door neighbors in the world of U.S. professional sports; proximity is always good for inspiring competition.

It also helps that the teams’ hometowns are in the second- and third-largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Florida (the Rowdies play in St. Petersburg); they already compete for tourists, business investment, commercial and residential development…these cities compete in a number of arenas.

For a Rowdies’ perspective, see the link below:

Last meeting

The Rowdies and Lions last played April 20, 2022, in the third round of the 2022 Open Cup. Alexandre Pato (52nd minute) and Junior Urso (63rd) scored for Orlando in a 2-1 win that sent the Lions on their way to winning the Cup, the club’s first trophy after joining MLS.

Brazilian midfielder Leo Fernandes, 33, is one of four current Rowdies who played in that match. He said the players enjoy the fans’ passion for the rivalry.

“It’s a fun game to be a part of,” Fernandes said in a media release from Rowdies Communications. “It’s our job to go out and perform and put out a good performance so we can hopefully win. As soon as the draw happened, we saw how excited the fans were for the game. It just makes the game even more important. As a player, that’s what you want. You want to play in important games.”

Teams’ form

Neither side is striking fear into opponents in 2025; the Lions (4-2-5, 17 points, ) are on an eight-match unbeaten streak in Major league soccer, but five of the eight results were draws. The Purple have recorded five consecutive clean sheets, but themselves failed to score in four of those shutouts. Orlando is in eighth place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, a playoff contender but certainly not the favorite they expected to be after advancing to the conference finals in 2024.

The Rowdies (1-5-1, 5 points) have been frightful, sitting in 11th place in the 12-team USL Championship Eastern Conference. Injuries have played a key role on both teams’ fortunes.

Its record aside, Tampa Bay always were going to be underdogs in tonight’s match; the Rowdies play in the USL Championship, a second-division league in U.S. Soccer’s system. The Lions played briefly in the USL but have been members of first-division Major League Soccer since 2015.

Rowdies interim head coach Steve Coleman believes being the underdog can help the Green-and-Yellow.

“Any time you have an opportunity to be the underdog and prove people wrong is an important motivation tool,” Coleman said. “When you have a club the stature and size of Orlando coming to town, it gives us that opportunity to be the underdog.”

Up next

The winner between the Rowdies and Orlando will host MLS side Nashville SC in the Round of 16, which will be played May 20 or 21.

Orlando hosts the New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in MLS regular-season action.

Tampa Bay will host the Charleston Battery at the same time in a USL-C match.