Tampa Bay Sun supporters waving flags, playing the drums and cheering for the team ahead of the Nov. 1 game DC Power FC. Photo courtesy Emily McLaughlin.
By Jeremy Fishman
The Tampa Bay Sun’s are working to attract UTampa students with affordable tickets and campus partnerships, but some students are still unaware of the team.
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Sun is a professional women’s soccer team located less than one mile from the University of Tampa (UTampa) campus. Since its establishment in 2023, the Sun have searched for ways to build a lasting fan base. The organization has worked to encourage regular student attendance at games. However, it has faced challenges in raising awareness of the team.
Christina Unkel is a former FIFA referee and serves as the Sun’s president and general manager. Unkel said the organization is working to understand what college students want from a game-day experience. Because of the high cost of living in downtown Tampa, Unkel believes that making tickets and concessions more affordable is important to attract younger fans.
In addition to growing the Sun’s fan base, Unkel believes the Sun can help college students pursue careers working in sports. She said that the organization has had multiple interns from UTampa, and she believes that the exposure can help students working in sports.
The Sun has also worked to increase student attendance through campus organizations. William Baksic, an inside sales representative for the Sun, said that the team has partnered with different Greek-life organizations at UTampa to encourage large groups attendance. He mentioned that the Sun has discounted group ticketing options to help manage the cost of games.
Despite efforts to make games affordable, Baksic thinks that the biggest obstacle for college students is their busy schedules.
“I completely get that [college is] a time in your life when you are wanting to set your next steps and figure out what you want to do in the world,” said Baksic.
Baksic acknowledged that the Sun is a relatively small organization and believes awareness will increase as the team continues to grow.
“Further down the line, it will definitely be something that more people are very bought into and want to block their time off on those weekends when we have games,” said Baksic.
While the Sun has identified affordability and busy schedules as possible challenges, some UTampa students said their biggest obstacle was lack of awareness.
Beckham Linthakhan, junior finance major, is a lifelong soccer fan who follows European leagues and Major League Soccer, but he has not attended a Sun game. Linthakhan said he would consider spending $30 to $50 on a ticket. However, tickets for the remaining games of the 2026 season start at $18. Without affordability being a factor, Linthakhan said a lack of awareness is the main reason he has not attended a game.
“It’s hard to attend a game that I don’t know is happening,” said Linthakhan.
Linthakhan suggested that the Sun could advertise on the UTampa campus through flyers, Instagram promotions and more partnerships with clubs and organizations on campus. Linthakhan said he would consider regularly attending games if he knew when they were scheduled and as long as the Sun played a good style of soccer.
Alli Thomas, senior musical theatre major, played softball growing up and follows women’s college basketball and the WNBA. Despite her interest in women’s sports, Thomas was unfamiliar with some aspects of the Sun’s organization.
“I knew it was a soccer team, but I didn’t actually know it was a female soccer team,” said Thomas.
Thomas was surprised to learn more about the Sun, and she wished that the Sun would become more involved with the other sports teams in the Tampa Bay area. She said that she sees a lot of advertising from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Rays. She believes that marketing is what brings fans to games. Thomas acknowledged the challenges of increasing awareness in Tampa’s crowded professional sports market.
“I would love if everyone knew every single women’s sports team in their area, but obviously that’s just not possible because there are so many other professional sports teams,” said Thomas.
Thomas is not a big soccer fan, and she does not regularly watch the sport. She said that she may be interested in attending a game depending on how much she sees exposure to the team.
“I think it’s just going to take some time,” said Thomas.