Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced July 23 in a special news conference that the city is giving away 10,000 free tickets to watch the Houston Dynamo and Dash teams play at Shell Energy Stadium.
The setup
The new civic collaboration comes after Houston closed out hosting seven matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a 39-day fan festival. Whitmire said city officials and their partners now want to focus on growing the game of soccer locally using the momentum from the success of the tournament.
"It was certainly a special time to be a Houstonian, and a really special time to be a soccer fan in the city of Houston," he said. "But we don't want to slow down. There are individuals who did not have an opportunity to go to even Fan Fest because of its capacity issues. So, we want to give the opportunity for Houstonians who have never been to a soccer game to get a free ticket."
Whitmire said this is only the first step in reaching out to the community and making professional soccer available to residents across Houston.
How it works
Residents can visit the Dynamo website to see games for the remainder of the 2026 season for both the men's and women's teams from July through September. To receive the free tickets, they can use the code HOUSTON26 at the official First Match On Us portal on the website. Jessica O'Neill, president of business operations for Dynamo Dash, said there are up to two free tickets per person until availability runs out. Houston officials will also provide printed tickets to community partners to give out to residents.
"We think we have something special and we'd love to make it available to everyone," she said. "We want to make sure that no stone is left unturned and make sure that people can experience the beautiful game live, especially if they have been newly captivated by this sport."
Houston Dash has approximately 11 games left in the season, while Dynamo has 19 regular-season games remaining in their Major League Soccer campaign.
