Editing 2025 NXL Tampa Bay Open

The '''2025 NXL Tampa Bay Open''' was the opening tournament of the [[2025 NXL season|2025 National Xball League season]], held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, from 7 to 9 March 2025.[1]

[[PaintballFIT]] won the professional division, defeating [[San Diego Dynasty]] 6–3 in a final played over two ten-minute halves. Femmes Fatale won the [[Women's National Xball League|WNXL]] division with a 5–1 victory over New Jersey High Rollers.[2][3]

== Venue and dates ==
The event took place at the Raymond James Stadium site, 3600 North Himes Avenue, Tampa, from 7 to 9 March 2025.[1]

Alongside tournament competition, the event included a paintball trade show.[4]

== Competition formats ==
The published programme specified 15-minute professional X-Ball matches with a six-point mercy rule. WNXL, Semi-Professional and Division 2 used 15-minute matches with a five-point mercy rule. Divisions 3 and 4 used 12-minute matches with a four-point mercy rule, while Division 5 used ten-minute matches with a three-point mercy rule.[1]

Additional formats included divisional, women's and youth five-player competition, Classic Open five-player and seven-player competition, Amateur ten-player competition, and Amateur, Intermediate, Novice and Youth three-player divisions.[1]

=== Professional final ===
The professional final departed from the standard 15-minute match format. It comprised two ten-minute halves separated by an eight-minute interval. Dynasty's contemporary event account stated that the change had been introduced during the week before the tournament.[3]

== Professional competition ==
Twenty teams contested the professional division, with ten advancing from the preliminary round. PaintballFIT and Edmonton Impact both finished the preliminaries unbeaten.[2]

PaintballFIT defeated Seattle Uprising 4–0 in the quarter-finals and Edmonton Impact 4–3 in the semi-finals. Dynasty reached the final by defeating Tampa Bay Damage 6–4 and Red Legion 6–5.[2]

Dynasty led the final 2–0 before PaintballFIT scored three consecutive points to take a 3–2 half-time lead. Dynasty equalised after the interval, but PaintballFIT won the remaining points to finish 6–3.[2][3]

The victory followed PaintballFIT's professional championship at the [[2024 NXL World Cup]]. Edmonton Impact finished third in Tampa, ahead of Red Legion.[5]

== Women's competition ==
Ten teams entered WNXL X-Ball, with the top two from each preliminary bracket advancing to the semi-finals. The Heroines and Dallas Vibe each won all four preliminary matches.[2]

New Jersey High Rollers defeated Dallas Vibe 3–2 in the semi-finals. Femmes Fatale defeated The Heroines 5–4 before winning the final 5–1 against High Rollers.[2]

A separate women's five-player division was won by Protocol XX. Women's three-player competition was advertised but recorded no entries and had no published final placings.[1][5]

== Results ==
The table lists the first two finishers in all 19 divisions with published final standings.[5]

{| class="wikitable"
! Division !! First !! Second
|-
| Professional X-Ball || PaintballFIT || San Diego Dynasty
|-
| WNXL X-Ball || Femmes Fatale || New Jersey High Rollers
|-
| Semi-Professional X-Ball || tppcrew || BR Factory
|-
| Division 2 X-Ball || Immortal Effect || Washed
|-
| Division 3 X-Ball || New Jersey Filthy || NR FACTORY
|-
| Division 4 X-Ball || Gunnerz || Gulf Coast Gorillas
|-
| Division 5 X-Ball || Protocol || Upstate Avalanche
|-
| Amateur ten-player || Smoke || Chicago Aftershock
|-
| Classic Open seven-player || Image || Team Smoke
|-
| Classic Open five-player || Image || Aftershock
|-
| Women's five-player || Protocol XX || Dallas Dolls
|-
| Division 3 five-player || Panda Express Elite || IMPACT
|-
| Division 4 five-player || Magic City Steel || JakkBoyz
|-
| Division 5 five-player || Ragtag D5 || TCP Nano Machine
|-
| Youth five-player || Hydra Kidz || Filthy Kids
|-
| Amateur three-player || Doc's Raiders || Dirty
|-
| Intermediate three-player || NFO NEW YORK || Element
|-
| Novice three-player || Alliance || Ruff Ryderz
|-
| Youth three-player || TCP Micro Machine || ShenaniKids
|}

== See also ==
* [[National Xball League]]
* [[Women's National Xball League]]
* [[2025 NXL season]]
* [[2025 NXL Atlantic City Open]]

== References ==
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8786/info PBLeagues – Tampa Bay Open: dates, venue, categories and formats, 7–9 March 2025.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8786/scores PBLeagues – NXL Tampa Bay Open 2025: match scores.]
# [https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2025/03/15/tampa-bay-nxl-2025-event-recap/ Zen and the Art of Paintball – Tampa Bay NXL 2025 Event Recap, 15 March 2025.]
# [https://shop.dyepaintball.com/blogs/news/nxl-tampa-recap DYE Paintball – NXL Tampa Recap.]
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/8786/rankings PBLeagues – NXL Tampa Bay Open 2025: final placings.]

[[Category:National Xball League events]]
[[Category:Paintball tournaments in the United States]]
[[Category:Paintball in Florida]]
[[Category:2020s in American paintball]]
[[Category:2025 in paintball]]