Ocean State Club paired with Hartford Athletic and Portland Hearts of Pine
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (Dec. 12, 2024) – The United Soccer League announced today that all 24 USL Championship teams will join the newly-expanded Jägermeister Cup in 2025, following a successful inaugural tournament that featured teams from USL League One exclusively in 2024. The groundbreaking interleague competition represents a significant milestone for professional soccer in the United States as it marks the first time a league within the U.S. Soccer Federation has established its own cup between two professional divisions.
Comprising 38 professional teams (24 USL Championship teams and 14 USL League One), the World Cup-style tournament will take place during the 2025 regular season. In an effort to add more meaningful matches to the schedule and promote attacking-minded soccer, the tournament will introduce a number of fan-first match modifications, including penalty shootouts to determine match winners during the group stage and goals scored as the first tiebreaker in the group standings.
The group stage of the tournament – which consists of six regional groups, each consisting of six or seven teams assigned by league or conference affiliation – will kick off on April 26 and conclude on July 26. Each team will play four group stage matches, two home and two away, with randomly-assigned home matches to be announced at a later date.
Rhode Island FC will join regional rivals Hartford Athletic, Eastern Conference foes Detroit City FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, as well as USL League One’s Westchester FC and Portland Hearts of Pine, in Group 4.
| GROUP 1 | GROUP 2 | GROUP 3 | GROUP 4 | GROUP 5 | GROUP 6 |
| AV ALTA FC | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | Birmingham Legion FC | Detroit City FC | Charlotte Independence | Charleston Battery |
| Las Vegas Lights FC | El Paso Locomotive FC | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | Hartford Athletic | Lexington SC | Greenville Triumph SC |
| Monterey Bay F.C. | New Mexico United | Forward Madison FC | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | Loudoun United FC | Miami FC |
| Oakland Roots SC | Phoenix Rising FC | Indy Eleven | Portland Hearts of Pine | Louisville City FC | FC Naples |
| Orange County SC | San Antonio FC | One Knoxville SC | Rhode Island FC | North Carolina FC | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Sacramento Republic FC | Texoma FC | FC Tulsa | Westchester SC | Richmond Kickers | South Georgia Tormenta FC |
| Spokane Velocity FC | Union Omaha |
After the group stage, which will see the six group winners and two wild cards advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds, a draw will set the knockout round matchups, which will begin three weeks later. The USL Jägermeister Cup will conclude with the Final on the weekend of Oct. 11.More information on the Jägermeister Cup will be released in the coming months. For Rhode Island FC news and updates, visit rhodeislandfc.com, download the official team app, and follow the club on X, Facebook and Instagram.