{"id":298305,"date":"2026-07-17T00:58:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298305\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T00:58:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:58:38","slug":"gotham-fc-broke-records-with-the-queens-classic-the-next-challenge-is-to-make-that-success-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298305\/","title":{"rendered":"Gotham FC broke records with the Queens Classic. The next challenge is to make that success last"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a perfect night in Queens, as Gotham FC defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0<\/a> in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,175 fans at Citi Field, home of the Mets. Underneath a sky of wildfire smoke and haze, the teams played through four hydration breaks, injury stoppages, oppressive summer heat and a patchy pitch.<\/p>\n

However, there was something about the Wednesday night spent in a baseball stadium that felt perfectly NWSL: incredible\u00a0and\u00a0maddening, promising\u00a0and problematic \u2014 with a touch of inevitable magic from Gotham midfielder Rose Lavelle and her left-footed goal that elevated spectators into touching the sublime of women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n

Despite the less-than-ideal environmental conditions, the match was a resounding success: The second-largest regular-season attendance in the NWSL, Gotham\u2019s best attendance, the most media to attend a Gotham regular-season match, a crowd made up of 70 percent new fans<\/a> that the team can now lean on as they eye their permanent move to Queens in 2028 and 3 points.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Gotham broke the attendance record for a women\u2019s sports event in New York City with their game against the Washington Spirit. (Meg Linehan \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

For Gotham owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, the Queens Classic was always intended to be a statement game.<\/p>\n

The NWSL\u2019s approach to scheduling for teams that played in locations limited by the men\u2019s World Cup was to schedule away games once the teams returned to play in July. But with the World Cup final down the road at MetLife Stadium, Tisch Blodgett immediately knew she wanted to insert Gotham into one of the biggest weeks for the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cGotham has to be at the center of it,\u201d Tisch Blodgett said on\u00a0the \u201cFull Time\u201d podcast<\/a>\u00a0this week. \u201cWe have to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were logistical hurdles. The league and players\u2019 association had to clear the move to a baseball stadium due to the playing surface, and the league front office worked with ESPN to clear a new broadcast window to fit in the game at 8 p.m. According to those involved in planning, there had originally been a desire to have the game lead into ABC\u2019s coverage of the ESPYs, also happening in New York. Instead, it aired on ESPN and had crossover programming with the award show carpet.<\/p>\n

It was fitting that a modified line from the movie \u201cField of Dreams\u201d got plenty of play in the build-up to the match:\u00a0\u201cif you build it, they will come.\u201d\u00a0A baseball line for a soccer game in a baseball stadium. A one-off success is great, but now comes the real test as Gotham embarks on a two-year runway to their move to Etihad Park in Queens.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we put the product in front of the right people, when we market it, when we invest behind it, when people have access to it, they will show up, and they care,\u201d Tisch Blodgett said earlier this week. \u201cThis has raised the standard not just for Gotham, but for the whole league.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are large challenges ahead for Gotham to finally crack the New York City market with a move across the East River. Tisch Blodgett said Gotham has \u201c2 percent awareness\u201d in their market and mentioned her own frustrations with Gotham (and local WNBA team New York Liberty) being erased from the conversation following the New York Knicks NBA title earlier this summer.<\/p>\n

The move in 2028 helps unlock a new audience for the club, one that shows in the 70 percent new attendees figure from the Citi Field game. However, there are mixed emotions from those who have supported Gotham since their early days in New Jersey when the club was still known as Sky Blue FC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel we have looked at the data a hundred different ways. I feel confident that if we want to raise the standard of what a women\u2019s sports team can be, if we want our players to play in front of full crowds every week, we have to move. This is the right thing for us,\u201d Tisch Blodgett said. \u201cIt can feel devastating for our fans who are feeling like they\u2019ve been left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Tisch Blodgett, for 60 percent of the team\u2019s current fans, the commute to Queens will be about the same as or better than the current stadium in Harrison, N.J.<\/p>\n

With folks still filtering in to the Queens Classic, just a quick glance away: Gotham\u2019s new home across the street.<\/p>\n

[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Meg Linehan (@meglinehan.com<\/a>) July 15, 2026 at 8:08 PM<\/a><\/p>\n

Those fans, led by supporters group Cloud 9, were in attendance Wednesday night, with banners hanging over one of the walls in right field and a single drum cutting through the din of chatter and beer vendors on the concourse.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t feel much like an NWSL game in any of the usual ways; there was no clear spot to look for a tifo or a way for supporters to effectively get a chant going. At times, a clutch of young kids would start up a \u201cLet\u2019s go Gotham\u201d chant, which would fade out nearly as quickly as it started. The wave never quite took off.<\/p>\n

Still, the buzz was undeniable at the largest scale, even with the stop-start nature of the match, punctuated by four hydration breaks due to the poor air quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite thing about tonight is that it isn\u2019t transactional,\u201d NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters during halftime at Citi Field, \u201cit\u2019s not a one-and-done. This is the beginning of a new relationship for this team in Queens, and we know that there\u2019s an entire fan base here that is going to be really hungry to enjoy the best soccer in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that the new fans won\u2019t immediately understand is where this team started. Long before nights at Citi Field, a pair of championships (in 2023 and 2025), or the talent-packed roster that now includes the return of Australian international Sam Kerr, there was Sky Blue.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the team won just one game, the last match of the regular season against the Orlando Pride. The following season, Cloud 9\u2019s scarves read \u201cEven the darkest night will end and the sun will rise,\u201d inspired by the finale of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first game of 2019, still tucked away at Yurcak Stadium in Piscataway, N.J., the fans held up a large banner reading \u201cChange will not come from above,\u201d a pointed reminder to the team\u2019s original ownership about the state of the club and working conditions for its players. The facilities lacked running water, and the ice baths were trash cans. Even Kerr, after her first stint with the team, spoke up about them<\/a> after she departed for the Chicago Red Stars. She\u00a0returned Wednesday night to the roar of a crowd<\/a> that largely had zero concept of this history, instead just excited to see one of the biggest names in women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Cloud 9 supporters spent the early years of Gotham and Sky Blue supporting the team but demanding change. (Meg Linehan \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Cloud 9 had another banner that they hung at every game at Yurcak Field, one that made the move with them to Red Bull Arena (now Sports Illustrated Stadium). \u201cWe\u2019ll stand by you forever,\u201d it read. It was a covenant, one that would be tested in 2028 in a way they could have never imagined.<\/p>\n

To tell Gotham\u2019s story is, in many ways, to tell the story of the NWSL itself, good and bad. This is the duality of the league, the challenges of its growth. Not everyone who was there at the start will follow where the NWSL goes. Growth remains central to long-term survival, but it does have costs. They may be unavoidable, but they should still be acknowledged \u2014 even as those who have been around the league since day one marvel at 42,175 fans for a regular-season game and the sheer scale of Wednesday night at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

Yes, Gotham may come back down to Earth on Saturday, when they face Seattle Reign FC at Icahn Stadium on Randall\u2019s Island in New York City, capacity 5,000. They won\u2019t make their return to Harrison until August, finally taking the pitch at Sports Illustrated Stadium for the first time since May 31. Still, they won\u2019t hit Wednesday\u2019s attendance mark again without something special.<\/p>\n

The Queens Classic was an event in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n

Gotham has their proof of concept among the stars in New York City. Now, in the aftermath, their biggest transformation truly begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a perfect night in Queens, as Gotham FC defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[19202,9,24,19203,63,122,124,123,23],"class_list":["post-298305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-gotham-fc","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nwsl","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298305","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=298305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}