{"id":298855,"date":"2026-07-17T18:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298855\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:30:09","slug":"nwsl-commr-jessica-berman-hails-gotham-fcs-queens-classic-eyes-league-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298855\/","title":{"rendered":"NWSL Comm’r Jessica Berman Hails Gotham FC\u2019s Queens Classic, Eyes League Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman left Citi Field<\/a> on Wednesday night confident she had witnessed a turning point for the 13-year-old women\u2019s soccer league.<\/p>\n

Gotham FC\u2019s 1-0 Queens Classic win over the Washington Spirit drew a sold-out crowd of 42,175 fans. It marked New York City\u2019s largest-ever women\u2019s sporting event, as well as the NWSL\u2019s second-largest audience behind 2026 expansion side Denver\u2019s 63,004-strong Empower Field matchup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Berman, a packed MLB ballpark on a weeknight in July \u2014 during one of the sports calendar\u2019s busiest months \u2014 said everything she needed to know about the future of the NWSL and Gotham\u2019s impending move to neighboring Etihad Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“My favorite thing about tonight is that it isn\u2019t transactional,” Berman told reporters at halftime. “It\u2019s not a one-and-done. This is the beginning of a new relationship for this team in Queens.”<\/p>\n

Of course, pulling off the match took coordination. The game slotted into the league\u2019s Wednesday night ESPN block but competed with the ESPY Awards<\/a>. Berman said the league office, ESPN, Gotham, and the NWSLPA worked in concert to make the 8 PM ET kickoff happen.<\/p>\n

The turnout, she suggested, was proof the product sells itself.<\/p>\n

“If you put it on in a place that is professional and makes people want to come, they will come and have a great time,” she said. She went on to note that more than five NWSL games have drawn 40,000+ fans<\/a> over the past two years.<\/p>\n

\"Ann-KatrinNWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman joined 43,000+ fans to watch Gotham FC’s Queens Classic win on Wednesday. (Mike Stobe\/NWSL via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Queens Classic Serves as Launchpad as Gotham Nears NYC Move<\/p>\n

Now in her fourth year<\/a> at the helm, Berman framed the night as a launchpad. Gotham FC will permanently join MLS team NYCFC in Queens in 2028. And the commissioner asserts that landing in the country\u2019s biggest city only ups the league\u2019s profile.<\/p>\n

“When I think about the future state of the NWSL two years from now, we\u2019ll be in our new media rights deal,” Berman said. “We will be an 18-team league, the largest we\u2019ve ever been by a significant margin. And to have a team competing in New York City proper, I think puts us on a map in a very different way.”<\/p>\n

The talent keeps flowing in, too. When asked about blockbuster Gotham signing Sam Kerr\u2019s return<\/a> and USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps\u2019s imminent Denver Summit debut<\/a>, Berman linked the moves to steadfast investment.<\/p>\n

“Anytime an elite player<\/a> chooses to come and play here, it\u2019s a testament to all of the hard work we\u2019re doing to build the kind of environments that attract and retain top talent,” she said.<\/p>\n

“[It\u2019s] the literal hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested across this league, across 18 cities, to make sure that we\u2019re the best league in the world.”<\/p>\n

\"GeneralThe NWSL drew more than 63,000 fans to 2026 expansion team Denver Summit’s home debut inside the NFL’s Empower Field. (Ron Chenoy\/Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Jessica Berman Likens NWSL Growth Trajectory to Running a Startup<\/p>\n

With that investment comes aggressive growth. The NWSL has gone from eight founding teams in 2013 to 16 this season with two more in the works. That acceleration has raised eyebrows across the industry, as some squads experience attendance drops<\/a> while others surge. Meanwhile, franchises are bought and sold at rapidly escalating valuations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But according to Berman\u2019s estimation, it\u2019s right on target.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve been really fortunate to work at all of the major professional leagues while they\u2019ve been in a growth phase,” she reflected.<\/p>\n

“That growth has been more iterative \u2014 5% or 10% year over year. Here, it\u2019s really more like the launch of a startup. We\u2019ve created something that people didn\u2019t know could exist just a few years ago. And we\u2019re here for it.”<\/p>\n

The commissioner also signaled demand for more showcase events. She relayed that while converting a baseball diamond<\/a> or NFL field into a soccer pitch is a tough task, it\u2019s clearly worth it.<\/p>\n

“I was in Denver earlier this year when they had 63,000 people in Empower. And there isn\u2019t a single person that I\u2019ve heard of or met who experienced that who didn\u2019t say \u2018I want more of that,\u2019” she said. “We\u2019re excited to continue to bring that life.”<\/p>\n

Pressed on whether Citi Field could host more Gotham matches<\/a> before 2028, Berman didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

“Based on the success of this game tonight, we\u2019d be foolish to not consider it,” she said. “It\u2019s clear that there\u2019s an appetite.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman left Citi Field on Wednesday night confident she had witnessed a turning point for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[90798,19202,113671,9,24,106846,113672,63,122,68711,124,123],"class_list":["post-298855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-2026-nwsl-season","tag-gotham-fc","tag-jessica-berman","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nwsl-attendance","tag-nwsl-expansion","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-classic","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298855","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=298855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}