“It’s an exciting day for us to be able to continue this event that brings so much to Tucson by the way of
Jon Pearlman, Founder & President FC Tucson
economic impact but most importantly the inspiration for young players and the return of MLS preseason
along with a stellar group of USL teams joining in this year makes it a special time for us.”
FC Tucson New Ownership Announces 2023 FC Tucson Desert Showcase Presented by Visit Tucson and Club Vision Moving Forward
MLS Teams Chicago Fire FC and Real Salt Lake along with top USL Championship sides to compete in Tucson.
TUCSON, Ariz. (January 11, 2023) — FC Tucson announced today the club’s plans to hold the 2023 FC Tucson Desert Showcase Presented by Visit Tucson, along with the official list of participants that will be playing matches at Kino North Complex in Tucson, AZ., February 8-18, 2023.
The preseason friendly matches will include 2 former MLS Champions, Real Salt Lake, featuring Tucson native Justen Glad, and the Chicago Fire FC, featuring Swiss World Cup goal scorer and former Liverpool player Xherdan Shaqiri, headlining the event.
They will be joined by 7 USL Championship clubs including Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup finalist Sacramento Republic FC, USL Championship finalist Louisville City FC, Western Conference finalist Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, New Mexico United, Detroit City FC, and Phoenix Rising FC. This will be the 13th consecutive season that FC Tucson has hosted teams for MLS preseason, with local owners Jon Pearlman and Jeff Arnold furthering FC Tucson’s commitment to providing the opportunity for both the Tucson community and its visitors to enjoy the highest levels of soccer.
“We are thrilled to open this era of FC Tucson ownership with the continuation of professional soccer matches in Tucson and to energize the Tucson soccer community before a huge summer with the Women’s World Cup, FC Tucson’s USL League Two Men’s Soccer, and FC Tucson Women’s WPSL team” said FC Tucson founder and new owner Jon Pearlman. “Jeff and I would like to thank the Pima County Stadium District, Visit Tucson, our dedicated staff, our partners and all of the clubs joining us this year for helping us make this event a possibility.”
FC Tucson has a long-established history of hosting preseason events that have included nearly 200 matches played, 21,000 hotel room nights, 2,000 jobs, and over $14M in economic impact for the city of Tucson and Pima County over the past 12 years.
FC Tucson also announced that former USL One assistant coach, and native Tucsonan, Mark Biagi will serve as Head Coach of the USL League Two team and Kelly Pierce will return for her 3rd year as Head Coach of the FC Tucson Women. “Mark and Kelly are fantastic coaches and we expect to compete this year for both men’s and women’s conference championships and beyond,” says Pearlman. “We are also determined in 2023 to grow our local ownership group and an enhanced venue situation that both ownership and supporters believe will support FC Tucson in both the professional men’s and women’s ranks in the near future.”
Below is the current 2023 FC Tucson Desert Showcase Schedule, subject to change:
Gated Game Schedule
All Preseason Gated Matches will be on the Kino North Stadium Field at 3600 S. Country Club Road, Tucson, Arizona 85713
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
Chicago Fire FC vs. Sacramento Republic FC @ 6PM
Saturday, February 11th, 2023: Double Header
Chicago Fire FC vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC @ 3PM
Real Salt Lake vs. Sacramento Republic FC @ 6PM
Saturday, February 18th, 2023
Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago Fire FC @ 11AM
