Gotham packs Citi Field as Queens move gets a 42,175-fan preview
Gotham FC beat Washington 1-0 before an announced Citi Field sellout, offering a loud preview of the club’s planned 2028 move to Queens.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
4 min read
Gotham FC got a Queens-sized sales pitch Wednesday night: 42,175 announced fans at Citi Field, a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit and a clear glimpse of the market waiting across the street.
ESPN reported that the NWSL club’s first match in Queens produced the second-largest crowd in league history and the largest crowd for a women’s sporting event in New York City. A few empty seats were visible, according to ESPN, but the announced sellout still dwarfed anything in Gotham’s own past.
The timing was useful for the club. Gotham has announced it will leave New Jersey and move into Etihad Park, the soccer-specific stadium rising near Citi Field, in 2028. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters at halftime that staging the game during a week of heavy soccer attention around the men’s World Cup final in New Jersey was “serendipitous” and helped put the club “on the map in a different way.”
The night also came with rough edges. ESPN reported that smoke from Canadian wildfires left the sky hazy, while extreme heat and poor air quality prompted the league to use four hydration breaks, something the two coaches said they had not experienced in their careers.
On the field, Rose Lavelle supplied the night’s centerpiece. ESPN reported that the United States midfielder scored the only goal, nutmegging a defender before lifting a chip from a tight angle. Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós called Lavelle’s ability “magic,” according to ESPN.
Lavelle also had the last word on the conditions, joking afterward: “That’s showbiz, baby!”
A crowd Gotham has never seen
For Gotham, the attendance figure carried extra weight. ESPN reported that the crowd at Citi Field exceeded the club’s total home attendance for the entire 2019 NWSL season, a year that included two games in Harrison, New Jersey.
The club, formerly known as Sky Blue, spent years playing in smaller settings in New Jersey. ESPN noted that past players dealt with conditions including no running water or locker rooms and took ice baths in trash cans at the training facility.
Mandy Freeman, Gotham’s longest-serving player after joining in 2017, told ESPN she was struggling to describe the moment. She later clarified that it was not a once-in-a-lifetime night, because the club expects to return.
ESPN reported that a Gotham executive said about 80% of ticketed fans at Citi Field were attending their first Gotham match. The club pushed hard to turn that curiosity into future business, with concourse booths, QR-code stickers on walkways and workers in the stands promoting season-ticket deposits rather than ballpark snacks.
According to ESPN, Gotham believes it could reach roughly 8,000 season-ticket deposits by the time it moves to Etihad Park, close to its current average attendance in Harrison.
Stars, rivals and a new address
The opponent helped. Washington, last year’s NWSL finalist, is within driving distance and has become a regular road draw for major league events, ESPN reported. Spirit forward Trinity Rodman told ESPN she was excited for the league’s future in Queens, though she said the air quality made Wednesday difficult.
Gotham also put its own star power on display. Sam Kerr returned off the bench and, according to ESPN, drew the loudest cheer of the night. Kerr previously played for Sky Blue, won NWSL MVP and Golden Boot honors, later starred in the NWSL and England’s Women’s Super League, and returned to Gotham this summer on a contract running through 2030.
The move is not universally loved. ESPN reported that some longtime supporters identify the club as deeply New Jersey, where it has played through multiple eras and where former Gov. Phil Murphy and Tammy Murphy were its primary owners until recently.
Still, the business case was loud at Citi Field. ESPN reported that Gotham will be a primary tenant at Etihad Park, with its own locker room and matchday stadium branding. For one smoky summer night, Queens looked ready to buy in.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.