Washington 19,215 Boston 30,207 Kansas city 11,500 Bay FC 13,110 North Carolina 8,157 San Diego 14,078 Orlando ? Angel city 16,813 Denver expecting over 50k for their opener as well. Can you believe it?
I'm delighted to see the rising interest in professional women's soccer -- but I am nostalgic for the old days when tickets were cheap, seats were plentiful, and I could watch Megan Rapinoe take corner kicks while seated 20 feet away. I recall, about 15 years ago, I went to a national championship women's soccer game and paid about 2 dollars for the ticket. The audience was about 200, maybe 300. I really enjoyed that match. Maybe I need a new obscure sport to get interested in?
I can hear you: reminds of the time when, at the Algarve Cup, I could easily meet in person my favourite Japanese players and talk with them after the match.
Making a statement from first kick. 💥NWSL Kickoff saw record-breaking attendance across eight matches!More here: https://t.co/th5UUoSCRq pic.twitter.com/55F8ZLEpYl— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 16, 2026
#NWSL Week 1 *announced* attendancesWashington: 19,215Boston: 30,207Kansas City: 11,500Bay FC: 13,110North Carolina: 8,159San Diego: 14,078Orlando: 16,120Angel City: 16,813The league says that both the average (16,150) + total (129,202 ... more teams now) are records.— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) March 16, 2026
And in case y'all don't want to go back and look, here is the comparison from last year. 12,867 in 2025 first week average v. 16,150 in 2026 first week average That is an impressive jump.
NWSL announced attendance in week 2:Portland 21,321Gotham FC 10,796Bay FC 10,299Houston 10,259Utah 9,778Orlando 7,076Louisville 5,722Chicago 4,192— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) March 23, 2026
Why??? I do not live in or even near an NWSL city and I am not aware of anything driving a "huge" turnout for this coming weekend. Is something "special" happening?
I see. I am always suspensions of numbers that are disproportional to history. I grew up in Dallas and I remember when the Dallas Texans (eventually moved to KC and became the Chiefs) and the Dallas Cowboys both played in the Cotton Bowl sometimes on the same day but mostly on different Sundays. There was a game on a Sunday during the Texas State Fair with only about 3 hours between games. Since, at the time, I watched football and I really enjoyed the State Fair I was offered tickets to both games and a pass to the fair The paid attendance for both games was supposed to be virtually the same but the Cowboy's game had almost double the attendance of the Texans. (The Texans were AFL) day the Dallas Morning news had the paid attendance about equal. I found out later that the Texans had given a HUGE number of tickets to various organizations but the people did not actually show up for the game. I have seen several times since predicted or even announced attendance that differed vastly from who actually showed up. Ever since that I take attendance figures with the providable "grain of salt" until I actually see the seats occupied. I have no reason to doubt that these numbers are true but Denver has not been around long enough for their numbers to be completely trusted. But, for me in the current women's soccer world, I watch viewer numbers a LOT more than attendance figures for some indication of the fan strength of a given franchise. *** I do NOT believe that the numbers are in any way false but the actual numbers on match day are much more trustworthy than even verified sales. ***
I believe that in almost all cases, the numbers we see are paid attendance. That includes season ticket holders who do not come to a particular game. It also includes any company blocks of tickets, whether or not those seats are filled. For the projected Denver attendance, I am not surprised. The Denver area and the area just east of the front range is a big developmental area for women's soccer, and also has a culture likely to provide good support for women's sports. Of course, their projected attendance may be a one-time thing, the proof of the pudding will be in the number of season tickets sold.
That's my understanding as well for attendance; it's tickets sold. Historically also Denver gets good attendance at USWNT games when they've played there. This expected attendance won't be what they hold week-to-week, but for their home opener, it is certainly not a surprise for Denver to [potentially] break the NWSL attendance record.
When the announcement was made, I was worried that the stadium would be half filled. But seeing it is over 50k is really impressive. Related, there was a lot of complaining about how season tickets were allocated, and I inferred that they had been sold out, or mostly sold out. A good sign to me.
Chicago announced as 1,821 tonight. Oof. Washington with 9,349, first time under 10,000 since March 2024 but some teams would be happy with that number on a weekend.
I honestly don't think Chicago has a plan to dig out of their attendance gutter. They'll remain at the bottom until they move out of Chicago.
Official attendance in Denver is 63,004, a new #NWSL record -- smashing last year's mark by over 20,000.— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) March 28, 2026
63,004 the most for any U.S. women’s professional sports league event and a monument for women's sports
The only bigger attendance was the the Nebraska women's volleyball match at the football stadium in 2023 - 92,003.