NEW YORK – Gotham FC are set to play the Washington Spirit at Citi Field, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, marking the first time an NWSL match will take place inside the limits of the city of New York.
The match will take place on July 15 and is the latest in a growing list of NWSL fixtures to take place at baseball stadiums and other regional venues. The move is designed to attract larger attendance figures, with several league-wide attendance records set in matchups like this one. The current NWSL attendance record is held by Oracle Park, home of MLB’s San Francisco Giants, for a game between Bay FC and the Spirit last year that welcomed just over 40,000 attendees.
Gotham usually host their home games at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., where the primary tenant is MLS’ New York Red Bulls. The game at Citi Field will not mark their first time playing inside the city of New York – they hosted a Concacaf W Champions Cup at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island last August and will return to the venue on July 18 for a match against the Seattle Reign.
The match at Citi Field falls four days before the men’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., part of the NWSL’s attempts to draw eyeballs during the summer tournament. The league will return to play during Fourth of July weekend, while the knockouts of the World Cup are still taking place, and will also host the Challenge Cup in late June at Columbus’ ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
