{"id":294706,"date":"2026-07-13T18:57:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294706\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:57:39","slug":"aiming-for-a-record-more-than-40k-fans-expected-for-the-queens-classic-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294706\/","title":{"rendered":"AIMING FOR A RECORD: More than 40K fans expected for The Queens Classic Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\tOverview:<\/p>\n<p>Defending National Women&#8217;s Soccer League champion Gotham FC anticipates a record-setting crowd for The Queens Classic at Citi Field on Wednesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. ET when it hosts the Washington Spirit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JERSEY CITY, N.J. \u2013 Defending National Women\u2019s Soccer League champion Gotham FC anticipates a record-setting crowd for The Queens Classic at Citi Field on Wednesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. ET when it hosts the Washington Spirit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be a rematch of the 2025 NWSL championship game (ESPN).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 40,000 fans have secured tickets for the first women\u2019s professional sporting event at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, as the club aims to set the New York City attendance record for a women\u2019s sporting event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a Gotham FC press release, fans can expect a full afternoon and evening of entertainment beginning with an expanded Footy Fest from 2:30-7:30 p.m. The festival will be hosted by World Cup champion, former U.S. women\u2019s national team midfielder and editor-in-chief of the Women\u2019s Game, Sam Mewis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 3 p.m., Gotham FC will stage a World Cup semifinal watch party, in collaboration with U.S. Soccer and the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York New Jersey Host Committee. Fans can RSVP watch party interest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gothamfc.com\/events\/queens-classic-semifinal-match-watch-party?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8X7Cxh5m646prYC15iSkmJQlICkQxfsMgfwzqTxtf5Vuns3ZYCw73Gu8hJrjX8nSUpsRiT_68WrxW2L1ku5rbYQoSnnw&amp;_hsmi=428168200&amp;utm_content=428168200&amp;utm_source=hs_email\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A live recording of Welcome to the Party, presented by Yoggies and hosted by USWNT legends Julie Foudy and Abby Wambach will take place from 6-6:45 p.m. with one of the most decorated players in the women\u2019s game and Chelsea defender, Lucy Bronze of England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first 7,500 fans through the gates will receive a commemorative Rose Lavelle, bobblehead featuring her beloved dog, Wilma Jean, celebrating the reigning NWSL Championship MVP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Queens Classic will also feature a memorable Torch Lighting ceremony, Gotham FC\u2019s signature prematch tradition. Footy Fest host and CarMax ambassador Mewis will be joined by Welcome to the Party hosts Foudy and Wambach, four-time WNBA Champion and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird and seven-time NBA All-Star, New York native Donovan Mitchell. The ceremony will culminate with journalist, activist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Gloria Steinem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New York-based sibling band Infinity Song will perform the national anthem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can\u2019t enjoy the World Cup without reading Michael Lewis\u2019 book:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Around the World Cup in 40 Years, An American sportswriter\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s how you can purchase the book:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s available on Amazon for $29.95, and it\u2019s available here:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3vb5rd6p\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3vb5rd6p<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-HOF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F508db735-91a0-42f4-90dc-7f18e3894207_780x1244.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/508db735-91a0-42f4-90dc-7f18e3894207_780x.jpeg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Overview: Defending National Women&#8217;s Soccer League champion Gotham FC anticipates a record-setting crowd for The Queens Classic at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[112346,19202,112347,9,24,19203,63,122,124,123,112348,83761,68321],"class_list":["post-294706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-abby-wambach","tag-gotham-fc","tag-julie-foudy","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nwsl","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sam-mewis","tag-the-queens-classic","tag-washington-spirit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}