IRVING, Texas — The American Conference will hold its annual Football Kickoff and Media Days for the first time in St. Petersburg, Florida, as the event is slated for Thursday-Friday, July 23-24, at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront.
The Sunshine City will host the American’s signature preseason event for the first time, as all 14 head coaches and 28 student‑athletes gather for two days of media interviews, behind-the-scenes content creation and fan-friendly fun.
Media availability will begin Thursday afternoon and continue Friday. Friday’s program will feature opening remarks from Commissioner Tim Pernetti followed by press conferences with each of the league’s 14 head coaches.
ESPN+ will provide live coverage of the Kickoff on Friday, July 24.
The American will open the doors to fans for an enhanced Kickoff experience. Attendees will enjoy unprecedented access to their favorite teams, including head coaches’ press conferences, photo opportunities and meet‑and‑greets with head coaches and student‑athletes. A detailed event schedule and the full list of participating student‑athletes will be announced in early July.
UTSA will kick off its 16th season of football and seventh under head coach Jeff Traylor against UTRGV on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners then will embark on short trips north on I-35 for back-to-back road matchups with Texas State on Sept. 12 and Texas the following Saturday before closing out the nonconference slate by hosting Colorado State on Sept. 26.
UTSA will enter its fourth season as a member of the American Conference with four league games scheduled for home at the Alamodome and four road contests. The Roadrunners will host South Florida on Thursday, Oct. 8, Navy (Oct. 17), North Texas (Nov. 14) and Tulsa (Nov. 27 or 28). They will hit the road to face Rice (Oct. 3), Tulane (Oct. 24), Florida Atlantic (Thursday, Nov. 5) and UAB (Nov. 21).
Kickoff times and television designations for the first three weeks of the season, as well as the season-long weeknight games, will be finalized in the coming weeks. The rest of the schedule will fall under the customary 12-day and six-day selection processes.
Season tickets are on sale by visiting utsa.pro/26FBSeasonTix or by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-UTSA (8872) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays. Current UTSA football season ticket holders may renew their tickets by logging into their UTSA Account Manager.
Traylor has led UTSA to unprecedented success during his tenure, guiding the Roadrunners to a 53-26 record in his first six years at the helm, the most wins and best winning percentage (.671) by a coach in program history. He also has helped turn the Alamodome into a true homefield advantage with a 33-5 (.868) home record, including a 25-1 (.962) mark against conference opponents, dating back to his first season in 2020. The Roadrunners have played in a bowl game in each of Traylor’s first six seasons, winning their last three, including a 57-20 victory over FIU in the First Responder Bowl last December.
The American had a highly successful 2025 football season, sending nine teams to Bowl Season, including Tulane earning a berth in the College Football Playoff as the No. 11 seed. Teams from the American recorded bowl victories over opponents from the Big 12, ACC, Conference USA and Mountain West.
The American was one of only four conferences, joining the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, to have three teams finish with 11 wins during the 2025 season. Last season, the American was the only conference to beat teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and ACC in non-conference play.
-UTSA-