icarus cup austin 2023

Just like the Philly edition, we and CASA created Icarus Cup Austin as a mini "festival of football" to celebrate two things: grassroots football and kit design. In 2023, we had 26 teams taking part in three 7v7 divisions, two of which ended in penalty shootouts - a broadcaster's dream. 

Notably, to commemorate the first Icarus Cup on the road, all of the jerseys were inspired by Texan culture, whether that be local college sports teams, the famous 'Congress bridge bats', or Lotería.

We kept the competitors well-oiled with free beer from local brand Shiner throughout the weekend, and brought through food trucks to quite literally bring the festival spirit (hopefully, sans festival hangover). 

In the evening, we took the teams on an Austin bar crawl to local cult spots like Shangri-La, Lowdown Lounge and The Liberty, and organized an Austin FC watch party with supporters group Los Verdes. It's a daunting task to bring a "festival of soccer" to the home of SXSW, but I think we can be very proud of how it worked out.