Rumble to Rio Tickets on Sale June 29

STANFORD, Calif. – Tickets for Rumble to Rio, Stanford's heralded quadrennial Olympic send-off for the United States, will go on sale beginning at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29 on the event's microsite, RumbleToRio.com. The U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team will play Russia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27 in what is the U.S.'s final match before heading to Brazil in defense of its 2012 Olympic gold.
 
General admission seats are $40 while a very limited number of VIP seats are available for $175. VIP tickets include an express entrance, designated parking lot, reserved padded seat on the pool deck, food and beverage service at the seat and a commemorative VIP badge. Children under the age of five are free.
 
Tickets are not expected to last long for the fifth installment of Stanford's Sendoff Series for Team USA, which takes place just nine days before the opening ceremonies in Rio. Sendoff to Sydney (2000), Avery to Athens (2004), Blastoff to Beijing (2008) all were played in front of a packed house. In the most recent edition, 2012's Lunging to London, a sellout crowd of 3,046 watched Team USA capture a stunning 17-8 victory over Hungary before the United States went on to win the women's water polo program's first Olympic gold medal.
 
Before the ball drops, a carnival will take place beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Avery Plaza with Brazilian entertainment, food trucks, Rumble to Rio and USA Water Polo vendor villages and more. Gates open at 6 p.m. and pregame festivities inside Avery Stadium will start at 6:45 p.m. Rumble to Rio will take place between the first and second sessions of the 2016 Junior Olympics, the world's largest water polo tournament, which is also in the Bay Area.
 
The United States and Russia are two of only three teams to have qualified for all five Olympics in women's water polo. Rumble to Rio is a rematch of Sendoff to Sydney, when the U.S. beat Russia, 7-5, on July 14, 2000.