On June 18, 2008, local businessmen David Laxer, Andrew Nestor and Hinds Howard announced plans to start a new soccer club which would revive the Rowdies name as FC Tampa Bay Rowdies and start play in 2010 as an expansion team in the
USL First Division, the second tier of the
American Soccer Pyramid. However, in November 2009, FC Tampa Bay announced its intent to instead become the co-founders of a new
North American Soccer League, which would begin play in 2010. These plans were subsequently superseded by the
USSF Division 2 deal, which created a compromise one-season only league comprising teams from both the USL and the new NASL. In December 2013, local businessman
Bill Edwards bought a controlling interest in the club. In October 2018, the
Tampa Bay Rays baseball club announced their purchase the Rowdies for an undisclosed amount, pending St. Petersburg City Council approval. Once the sale was finalized, Rays presidents
Matthew Silverman and
Brian Auld became vice chairmen of the soccer club.
Name changes In January 2010, the club became known as "FC Tampa Bay" due to a legal dispute with sports apparel company Classic Ink over the merchandising rights to the Tampa Bay Rowdies name and related trademarks. The name was still used informally by the club until October 2010, when the team announced that it would not use the "Rowdies" nickname at all until the ongoing rights issue was resolved. On December 15, 2011, after two seasons of play, the club announced that it had finally reached a licensing agreement to use the "Rowdies" name and classic logos, allowing it to change its name back to "Tampa Bay Rowdies" before the 2012 season. They did, however, capture the 2010 Ponce De Leon Cup.
2011 season For the 2011 season, FC Tampa Bay transitioned to the new
North American Soccer League, a second division league, and also changed their home pitch, as they moved across
Tampa Bay to
Al Lang Stadium in
St. Petersburg. Former original Rowdie
Ricky Hill was named the club's manager in January 2011. After winning only 2 of their first 10 matches, the club rebounded to finish third in the league table and qualified for the NASL playoffs. A highlight was a 1–0 mid-season friendly win over the
Bolton Wanderers of the
English Premier League at Al Lang Stadium.
2012 season and
Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, 2012 The 2012 season marked the return of the Rowdies name, as the club was finally able to secure full rights to use the moniker. It was also the most successful season in modern Rowdies history, as the club finished second in the league table and became NASL champions with a victory in
Soccer Bowl 2012. Tampa Bay amassed 45 points in 28 matches during the regular season under returning manager Ricky Hill, tallying 12 wins, nine draws, and seven losses. The Rowdies earned a bye to the semifinals of the
2012 NASL Playoffs, where they beat the
Carolina RailHawks by a 5–4 aggregate in the two-leg series. In the championship round against
Minnesota Stars FC, the Rowdies fell behind 0–2 after the first leg but were able to tie the aggregate with a 3–1 win in the second leg back at Al Lang Stadium. Extra time ended scoreless, so the match was decided with a
penalty shoot-out, which Tampa Bay won 3–2 to secure the league championship. Hill was named the
NASL Coach of the Year.
2013 season The defending champions got off to a slow start in two pre-league tournaments, as they went winless in their first six contests against
MLS and
USL Pro clubs. The Rowdies improved enough in league play to finish 4th in the NASL spring table with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses. The highlight of the early season was a run to the 4th round of the
2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which included a 1–0 win over
Seattle Sounders FC of MLS. The Rowdies went 5–4–4 during the fall portion of the schedule, good for 3rd place. The club earned 38 points over the entire campaign, second most in the league. However, because of the NASL's new
split-season format, the Rowdies did not qualify for the playoffs. Midfielder/striker
Georgi Hristov led the team with 15 goals in all competitions and was named the NASL's
Golden Ball Award winner (MVP).
2014 season The Rowdies struggled in 2014, coming in 7th place in the NASL's spring season and 8th in the fall while allowing the most goals (50) in the league overall. The club rose to 3rd in the table midway through the fall campaign but tailed off, going winless over their last 10 matches. Manager Ricky Hill was dismissed after the season.
2015 season playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies against
Jacksonville Armada FC on April 25, 2015. The Tampa Bay Rowdies' new manager for 2015 was
Thomas Rongen, who had coached the MLS's
Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996. The team also brought in another familiar face when
Farrukh Quraishi, who had been a player and a youth development director for the original Rowdies, was named general manager. In March 2015, the Rowdies traveled to
Portugal to play several preseason friendlies against clubs in the Portuguese second and third divisions. It was the first time that the current club had undertaken an international tour. The Rowdies lost only one match during the NASL spring season, good for second place in the table. After starting the fall season 2–1–6, however, club owner Bill Edwards dismissed both Rongen and Quraishi. Assistant
Stuart Campbell was promoted to manager and led the team to a 3–4–4 record. The Rowdies finished the fall season in 8th out of 11 teams in the league table and missed the playoffs.
2016 season For the second consecutive year, the Rowdies visited Europe during the preseason, traveling to England in March to play several friendlies. The Rowdies held their own against three lower division sides, going 1–2–0 in official matches. The results of the
2016 NASL season were not as good. The club went 4–4–2 in the NASL spring season, good for 5th out of eleven teams in the league table. However, results slipped in the fall portion of the schedule, and the Rowdies finished the season 9–11–12, missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. A few days before their final game of the season, the franchise announced they would be leaving the NASL to compete in the
United Soccer League beginning with the 2017 season.
2017 season Having made the jump to the
USL, the Rowdies served notice that they were not to be taken lightly. During the regular season, they lost only once at home, and en route to finishing in third position on the USL's Eastern Conference table, they lost only two of their final 15 matches. They posted a record of 14–11–7 with 53 points to propel them into the playoffs. In the
USL Cup playoffs, they lost in extra time at home in the conference semifinals. It was only their second home loss of the season.
2018 season After a strong start, the team lost three straight without scoring a goal. This prompted the firing of head coach
Stuart Campbell on May 17, with defender
Neill Collins retiring to accept the coaching vacancy the following day. On July 4
Georgi Hristov scored his 58th career goal for the Rowdies, to pass
Derek Smethurst and become the Rowdies' all-time top scorer. The team finished the season in 12th position on the Eastern Conference table.
2019 season An extremely strong start saw the club go unbeaten in their first 13 matches and lose only once in their first 20. The final third of the season wasn't as successful, as the team lost half of their last 14 games, including 2 crucial losses to expansion sides in October that saw the club finish 5th in the Eastern Conference. Their return to the postseason was short-lived, as they lost 2–1 on the road in Louisville in the first round of the
2019 USL Championship Playoffs. Elsewhere, the club advanced to the third round of the
2019 U.S. Open Cup, defeating
The Villages SC before falling to
OKC Energy FC. The club also entered into a partnership with
Norwich City FC that saw defender
Caleb Richards arrive on a season-long loan. Richards made 34 appearances, playing all but two minutes of the regular season, and scoring one goal.
2020 season 2021 season 2022 season 2023 season 2024 season 2025 season ==Club venues==