Tampa Bay Sun FC’s championship boat parade happens Wednesday

Lightning, Bucs—and now the Sun. Tampa Bay’s first professional women’s soccer team is keeping the city’s championship boat parade tradition alive.

To celebrate Tampa Bay Sun FC’s historic win in the inaugural USL Super League season, the team is celebrating Tampa style with a boat parade on Wednesday.

The Sun took to social media this morning and teased the celebration with three emojis and a date—”06.18.25.” Visit Tampa Bay chimed in and congratulated the team on its success and alluded to the celebration with its caption “So…boat parade?”

A press release sent after the social media tease said that the team will board boats in downtown Tampa and travel upstream towards Armature Works where they are expected to arrive at. the pier around 2 p.m.

Fans are invited to greet the team at Armature Works and hear remarks from players, coaches, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, all before meet-and-greets, giveaways and a family-friendly party.

Past boat parades for the Buccaneers (2021) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020, 2021) sailed along the Hillsborough River between Tampa Armature Works and past the Tampa Convention Center.

The Sun—which finished its inaugural season with a 14-10-6 record—has made a tradition of arriving for its home games by water taxi.

Tampa Bay Sun FC defeated Fort Lauderdale United FC 1-0 last Saturday night in a thrilling overtime match, on the way to hoisting the first-ever USL Super League championship trophy.

Tampa Bay Sun FC’s championship boat parade happens Wednesday, June 18, and wraps with a party at the Tampa Armature Works pier.

UPDATED 06/17/25 8:35 p.m. Updated with boat parade details from the club.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky

This article appears in Jun 12-18, 2025.