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Jeff Kassouf
Multiple Authors
Reigning NWSL champions Gotham FC will play at Citi Field, home of MLB’s New York Mets, on July 15 against the Washington Spirit in a rematch of the 2025 NWSL Championship.
The game, which will be broadcast nationally on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, was announced on Tuesday and dubbed as “The Queens Classic.”
The match will be the NWSL’s first at Citi Field and part of a growing trend of annual big-event games at MLB and NFL stadiums.
“This summer will be transformational for soccer in our region, and we’re really excited to put women’s sports and our world-class athletes at Gotham FC front and center when a global spotlight is on New York,” Gotham FC chief business officer Ryan Dillon said in a statement.
“It will be a history-making summer of soccer, and this event ensures that we are a part of that.”
Gotham defeated Washington 1-0 in November’s final.
Midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the game-winning goal late in the second half. The July 15 rematch will take place four days before the 2026 Men’s World Cup final is played in the New York metro area, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The World Cup forced Gotham, which usually plays home games at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, to get creative with its scheduling due to limitations and restrictions caused by the FIFA event.
Three days after the match at Citi Field — and one day before the 2026 World Cup final — Gotham will host Seattle Reign FC at the 5,000-seat Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City (televised nationally on ABC).
The NWSL will pause regular-season play in June for the start of the 2026 World Cup. Several NWSL teams will be displaced from either their home stadium or their training grounds due to the tournament.
The league returns to play on July 3 during the World Cup knockout stage.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said last week that she believes fans who are excited about the 2026 World Cup will discover the NWSL, although the NWSL’s strategy to capture and retain those fans remains unclear.
Berman said that playing during the World Cup knockout stage was intentional for “discoverability.”
She also pointed to “tentpole events” as ways to capture fans.
“Our specific focus for the 2026 season is to make sure that our games are in front of, and our product is in front of, people who love women’s soccer — agnostic to whether it is men or women,” Berman said last week from the NWSL’s new offices in Manhattan.
“Knowing the NWSL is the best league in the world, and so if you love the best soccer in the world, you will love the NWSL.”
The July 15 game at Citi Field marks the third straight year in which the NWSL has played a regular season game in an MLB venue. Each of the previous occasions set a league attendance record.
The Chicago Stars FC hosted Bay FC at Wrigley Field in 2024 in front of an announced crowd of 35,038 fans.
Last year, Bay FC hosted the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park in San Francisco in front of an announced sellout crowd of 40,091.
Citi Field’s capacity is around 42,000.
The baseball venue in Queens has hosted other soccer events before, including a recent friendly between Colombia and Australia in November.
The NWSL attendance record is expected to be broken on March 28 when expansion team Denver Summit FC hosts the Spirit at Empower Field, home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos.
More than 50,000 tickets have already been sold for the game, which is the Summit’s first at home.