Events

Venues set for latest Soccer Champions Tour

Featured image credit: Trac Vu on Unsplash

The venues and schedule have been announced for the second edition of the Soccer Champions Tour, a club football tournament that will take place at eight stadiums across the US.

The pre-season tournament will be contested by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan, Arsenal and Manchester United, and will comprise eight matches played between July 22 and August 2.

The host venues are Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, NRG Stadium in Houston, Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

The highlight of the tournament will see rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona meet at AT&T Stadium (pictured), home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, on July 29. The competition begins on July 22 with Barcelona vs Juventus at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rose Bowl will then host Real Madrid vs AC Milan on July 23, before two games are held on July 26: Arsenal vs Barcelona at SoFi Stadium and Real Madrid vs Manchester United at NRG Stadium.

Dignity Health Sports Park, home of Major League Soccer team LA Galaxy, will host Juventus vs AC Milan on July 27. AC Milan will then head to Allegiant Stadium to play Barcelona, before the tournament concludes on August 2 with Juventus vs Real Madrid at Camping World Stadium.

This year’s Soccer Champions Tour will mark the first time the six clubs have participated together in a US series. The tournament debuted last year and was created by a newly-formed company of global investment firm Sixth Street.

Alan Waxman, co-founder and chief executive at Sixth Street, said: “We are proud to be partnering with the world’s most storied clubs, which have the world’s strongest and most passionate supporters, to provide this rare opportunity for American fans to experience the game at the highest level.

“While this year’s tour consists of men’s clubs, we look forward to expanding next summer to bring the world’s best women’s clubs to local audiences around the globe, and in the future to evolve this series into a format with real games of consequence.”

There are also plans to organise elite youth academy competitions in the coming years. Soccer Champions Tour is working with global premium experiences company Legends to organise the series, which this year is being produced in partnership with AEG.

The venues for last year’s tournament were Allegiant Stadium, Oracle Park, Rose Bowl Stadium and Cotton Bowl Stadium.