{"id":297704,"date":"2026-07-16T15:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297704\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T15:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:35:09","slug":"queens-classic-draws-record-breaking-crowd-to-citi-field-marking-beginning-of-a-new-relationship-between-borough-and-gotham-fc-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297704\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens Classic draws record-breaking crowd to Citi Field, marking \u2018beginning of a new relationship\u2019 between borough and Gotham FC \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sold-out crowd of 42,175 looked on as Gotham FC<\/a> and Washington Spirit made history in the biggest ever women\u2019s sporting event in New York City history at Citi Field Wednesday, July 15.<\/p>\n

Rose Lavelle\u2019s stunning 37th-minute chip proved the difference in a 1-0 win for Gotham in Wednesday\u2019s Queens Classic, which was also the first professional women\u2019s sporting event to take place at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

The game marks Gotham\u2019s<\/a> first foray into Queens ahead of the team\u2019s planned move to the borough in 2028, when it will take up residence in Etihad Park across the street from Citi Field.<\/p>\n

Lavelle said playing in front of a sell-out crowd added \u201canother special element\u201d to the matchup with the Spirit, which was a rematch of the 2025 NWSL Championship game.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for us to be able to have this moment was really huge and hopefully we can just keep building off this,\u201d Lavelle said.\n<\/p>\n

Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amor\u00f3s, on the other hand, said the event marked an \u201camazing day\u201d in the history of the club.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was truly special,\u201d he said. \u201cGotham is growing at a level that I was dreaming of when I came here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said the Queens Classic was the \u201cbeginning of a new relationship\u201d between Gotham and the borough. She added that it was \u201cserendipitous\u201d that Gotham was forced to host the game in Queens at the same time that the move to the borough was announced, with its current home venue at Sports Illustrated Stadium not in use due to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the perfect story for us,\u201d Berman said. \u201cTo have a team competing in New York City proper, I think puts us on a map in a very different way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said the league decided \u201cvery early\u201d to return to action as soon as possible during the men\u2019s World Cup but said teams like Gotham made \u201clemonade out of lemons\u201d when their home venues were not available.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason tonight happened is because we were forced to be innovative and creative,\u201d Berman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also pointed to the sell-out crowd during \u201cone of the busiest weeks in sports\u201d as a sign of the growth of women\u2019s soccer and the NWSL.\n<\/p>\n

Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, meanwhile, said the historic Queens Classic and the forthcoming move to Queens is the \u201cconvergence of a lot of beautiful things.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about the world\u2019s game in the world\u2019s borough at a moment when women\u2019s sports are exploding,\u201d Cab\u00e1n said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just on the pitch or on the court. It\u2019s also off the field too. We\u2019re seeing these very visible fights around gender pay equity, professional soccer players have been at the forefront of this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cab\u00e1n also believes that the presence of a women\u2019s team in Queens will serve as inspiration for countless young girls growing up in the borough.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to see it to believe that it\u2019s possible for your sport,\u201d Cab\u00e1n said. \u201cEven when I was growing up,\u00a0a lot of the schools that I went to didn\u2019t have the green space to play a lot of these sports, like soccer and\u00a0lacrosse. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese sports\u00a0were considered Long Island sports, and so to see them coming into our city and having them be more accessible is a beautiful thing\u2026 there\u2019s no game more accessible than soccer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If soccer is to thrive, however, Cab\u00e1n believes that there should be less financial barriers for budding players.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is about access and accessibility,\u201d Cab\u00e1n said. \u201cJust having those opportunities can be absolutely life-changing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Berman, meanwhile, believes more events in Citi Field are possible before Gotham makes the permanent switch from New Jersey to Queens in two years.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think based on the success of this game tonight, we we\u2019d be foolish to not consider it because it\u2019s clear that there\u2019s an appetite and and a market for it here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sold-out crowd of 42,175 looked on as Gotham FC and Washington Spirit made history in the biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2031,19202,9,24,19203,63,122,68711,124,123,27660,68321],"class_list":["post-297704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-citi-field","tag-gotham-fc","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nwsl","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-classic","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rose-lavelle","tag-washington-spirit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297704","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=297704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}