From Wednesday to Monday, Cary is the center of the soccer world. It’s a world where Dreamville FC (yep, J. Cole’s record label) and the U.S. Women’s soccer team are on the same tournament schedule.
TST (The Soccer Tournament) is a nontraditional soccer tournament, described by a spokesperson as “the World Cup meets Coachella meets the state fair” and by a fan as “a music festival for soccer,” held at Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park.
The festival-style event combines a lot: Concurrent and fast-paced play over seven fields by traditional and nontraditional clubs for three $1 million dollar prizes, youth soccer clinics, kids activities, food and drink, and lots of celebrities, soccer and otherwise.
It’s the fourth year of TST, and organizers are expecting the biggest turnout yet, tracking to reach 55-60,000 attendees. That exceeds 2025’s numbers of nearly 52,000 fans.
This year marks a return to a broadcast by NBC Sports and 17 of the 159 matches will be live on NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock, a first.
With the growing scope of the festival, The Line reports on what it means for Cary and Western Wake, what it’s like to attend, and for returning fans, what’s new this year.
What TST Means For Cary–And the Triangle
Back in October, TST and the town of Cary announced a partnership for the 7v7 tournament to be hosted at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary through at least 2029 after receiving a $6.8 million grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund.
TST generated $14.7 million in direct economic impact in 2025, according to the joint release, with more than 31,000 estimated fans traveling from outside Wake County.
In the months leading up to TST, more partner events were held from Cary to Holly Springs. A pilsner collaboration with TST and six Western Wake breweries was brewed and canned.
The longer-term commitment made a difference for TST, Freddy Stanley, Communications and Local Marketing Manager, said in an interview with The Line.
“Now that we know we’re here in Cary for four years at least, we’re able to delve into community partnerships,” Stanley said in an interview with The Line.
Other collaborations include The Cary Cup, which started last year with the town, bringing the 7v7 format to the youth player level.
TST partnered with local youth soccer clubs with ticket discount codes, with 10% of revenue going back to the clubs who sell the tickets, Stanley said. YMCA campers on year-round schedules who are tracked out will attend a day at TST.
Beyond the TST partnerships, two familiar-to-Cary, world-renowned soccer players spoke about the impact to the local soccer community.
The US Women’s team, which will attempt a third win in a row at TST for the women’s $1 million prize, includes Jessica McDonald and Heather O’Reilly. Both World Cup champions played on the UNC-Chapel Hill women’s soccer team and WakeMed Soccer Park’s home National Women’s Soccer League team NC Courage.
On Tuesday at a media conference, McDonald said TST’s growth here isn’t surprising.
“The Triangle’s always been a huge support system for women’s football in general since the Mia Hamm era at UNC and I think it’s been ongoing ever since,” McDonald said. “But seeing a tournament like TST rise each and every year… More support, more teams, more people want to come and play here in the Triangle, that doesn’t surprise me.”
O’Reilly, who is returning as a player and the team’s leader, agreed, mentioning the NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup events at WakeMed Soccer Park.
“It seems like this tournament is another layer of the environment that’s been building,” O’Reilly said. “We didn’t know if it would continue to be here and we’re thrilled that it is. They’ve done their research on where is the best, and I think they picked a good spot. And I’m not just saying that because it’s 30 minutes from my house.”
Fan View: What It’s Like at TST
When I put out the call for soccer fans in a recent edition of The Line, two soccer enthusiasts who have attended TST every year answered the call and shared their perspectives. Their responses from our conversations have been condensed.
Susan Murphy calls herself a “superfan” of soccer, first at Sanderson High School. Then, “I met a guy in London who was a soccer player, and you know, 30 years later we’re back in Raleigh.” She attended the World Cup in France in 1998 with her now-husband and the Tartan Army, supporters of the Scottish National Team.
Sawyer Stone is a lifelong player and fan in the Triangle. Stone, who uses they/she pronouns, still plays in adult recreational leagues and is a season ticketholder for the NC Courage since 2019.
Stone has attended every year: “When they announced TST, the first year, I was like, well, I have to go. We can’t have this premier, really robust, super cool celebrity soccer tournament, like, 20 minutes down the road from me, and I can’t attend.”
How would you describe TST to a friend?
Murphy: It’s just exciting. It’s a festival atmosphere, and everything’s fast-paced. I honestly believe, even if you’re not a soccer fan, you’ll have so much fun there. There will be teams that you’ve heard of, or people that you’ve heard of. Even just Wrexham (A.F.C.), you know, everybody knows about Wrexham.
Stone: I do this all the time, because I make new people go every year. My group has gone from just me my first year to I think there’s 15 of us now.
I would say that it is a celebrity soccer tournament. They play for a million dollars. You can’t miss the championship game, even if you don’t care about the teams that are playing. It’s so fun to watch, because the stakes are so high, and the way that they do the TST time is so awesome.
It’s basically a music festival for soccer. And you can do any number of things that you could do at a music festival. I’ve had friends that have gone and brought their kids, and their kids are having the best time. It’s very safe, it’s very fun, it’s very inclusive, it’s very diverse. If you like soccer and you want to put it in your veins, it’s definitely the place to be that weekend.
Advice to attendees:
Stone: You’re gonna sweat, you need electrolytes. I remember the first year I went, I was super unequipped. Bring sunscreen, bring a hat, bring a poncho, you never know what’s gonna happen.
Murphy: If you like sports of any kind, then you’ll like it. You know, the rules are different. I would say, study up, look into what the rules are. It’s a short game. It’s always gonna win on a goal, and it’s always gonna be really exciting and competitive.
What TST means for Cary:
Stone: I’ve spoken to professional people that play soccer all over the country, and one of the things I remember a male player saying to me was that he had done enough research about North Carolina that he was thinking about moving with his young daughter to North Carolina so that she could be here in our soccer environment. We have one of the best, most robust youth soccer programs in the world, all over North Carolina.
Murphy: There’ve been so many great tournaments and games at Wake Med Soccer Park, so even just elevating Wake Med Soccer Park. It keeps us there in terms of making a name for ourselves as a soccer destination, as a place to come and watch, high-quality soccer.
What’s New This Year at TST
A Home Run Derby, on Thursday, is a new format and collaboration with USA Baseball:
“In TST’s Soccer Home Run Derby, players will attempt to kick as many “home runs” as possible by clearing an eight-foot fence on the fly, striking balls served by a pitcher on the ground by foot. Each participant will have one minute to record as many successful home runs as possible, with the top two advancing to a championship round. The final will feature a best-of-five, penalty shootout-style showdown, with competitors alternating attempts until a winner is crowned.”
USA Baseball’s headquarters and National Training Complex is in Cary.
TST Mixed, a third competition announced this year, also for a $1 million prize. Twelve teams, are headlined by Landon Donovan’s Sneaky FC, Hope Solo’s Solo FC, Wrexham Red Dragons, and Hashtag United. The match between Solo’s and and Donovan’s teams will be broadcast on NBC at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Who’s playing: The 76 teams this year include notable professional clubs Wrexham AFC, LaLiga’s Villarreal CF, Serie A’s Cagliari Calcio, LigaMX’s Club America, South African Premiership’s Orlando Pirates, and the home team NC Courage.
Three “TST celebrity-led teams” include Gerard Pique’s Kings League All-Stars, Sergio Agüero’s (previously known as Agüero Team and Seleccion Potrero), and Fayetteville native J. Cole’s Dreamville Records Dreamville FC.
Learn more: Tickets and the full schedule of events for the May 27-June 1 event is at tst7v7.com.
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