The NWSL rides a ‘rocket ship’ of interest in women’s sports to a record-setting year

Becky Sullivan | November 16, 2024

WASHINGTON — The stands at Audi Field were packed. The lines for concessions wound down the concourse. And when the Washington Spirit scored the go-ahead goal, the roar was deafening.

In all, 19,215 people were in attendance at last Sunday’s National Women’s Soccer League quarterfinal playoff match between the Spirit and Bay FC, which the Spirit won 2-1 in extra time — all of them part of a historic wave of interest in women’s sports.

“I’m not as new as some people, maybe, to women’s sports. But I’m watching people catch up, and I’m also recognizing that it wasn’t like this, like, when I was a kid. I didn’t have this experience available,” said Jessica Shearer, who came with her 7-year-old daughter Francesca.

Across the board, 2024 was a record year for women’s sports. The WNBA saw record audiences in person and on TV, which the league parlayed into a major new media rights deal. In college basketball, the women’s March Madness tournament outdrew the men’s. Women headlined the U.S. Olympic success, including a gold medal for the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

The NWSL was no exception. In 2024, league-wide total attendance surpassed 2 million for the first time in NWSL history, a number buoyed by the debut of two new franchises and an extended regular season. Average attendance surpassed 11,000 fans per game — another record.

A ‘rocket ship’ of interest in women’s sports

It was difficult to foresee this success back in 2021, when the league was still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every team struggled to get fans back into seats after the 2020 regular season had been canceled altogether.

That year, the Washington Spirit hosted a playoff game at Audi Field. But only 5,300 people were in the stands for that match in 2021, and the stadium then was nearly three-quarters empty — a stark contrast to the sellout crowd last weekend.

It didn’t help that back then the Spirit was playing many of its games at a much smaller facility — a 5,000-seat stadium in Loudoun County, Va., nearly 40 miles away. The inconsistency hampered attendance even when the Spirit played at the much larger Audi Field, said Brandon Clark, the team’s vice president for marketing. In 2023, the team began to play all its games at Audi Field, which boosted attendance.

“However, the real rocket ship comes when you look at the general movement of women’s sports and the explosion in popularity,” Clark said. “You think about going from 5,300 to nearly 20,000 in three years — so a lot of people [were] coming through those gates this past Sunday who probably never thought they would be at a professional women’s soccer match.”

The trio of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith helped lead the U.S. women's national team to a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Their success at the Summer Games helped fuel attention on their NWSL teams back home — the Washington Spirit, Chicago Red Stars and Portland Thorns, respectively. — The trio of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith helped lead the U.S. women’s national team to a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Their success at the Summer Games helped fuel attention on their NWSL teams back home — the Washington Spirit, Chicago Red Stars and Portland Thorns, respectively. (Patricia de Melo Moreira | AFP via Getty Images)

On Sunday afternoon, the Spirit were in direct competition with the country’s favorite sport: American football. The Spirit game began at 12:30 p.m.; a full slate of afternoon NFL games, including a Washington Commanders home game only 10 miles away, kicked off 30 minutes later.

“Here are the Commanders selling out — same time, same exact time of playing — yet we’re able to sell out, too,” Clark said.

The new fans come from all corners, and the league is working to capture them all. There are those for whom fandom in women’s sports is a statement of personal values. There are those who have always loved men’s European soccer. There are those who Clark calls “generalists” — people who follow their regional sports teams but had never before given women’s soccer a shot.

“I’ve wanted to see Trinity Rodman and a lot of the other star players for a while. Now that they’re in the quarterfinals and playing in the playoffs, I thought it would be a fantastic time to come,” said Nathaniel Glasser, a D.C.-area resident who attended last Sunday’s game with a friend, Bart Saunders.

For the two men, both longtime sports fans — Glasser for baseball and the NFL, and Saunders for the English Premier League team Arsenal — Sunday’s game was their first-ever women’s soccer match.

“The fact that Arsenal are playing Chelsea right now, and I’m here, says a lot,” Saunders said with a laugh.

A new media rights deal and collective bargaining agreement are ‘foundational’

The 2024 NWSL season was the first under a new media rights deal that placed about two-thirds of this year’s games on a handful of TV networks and streaming platforms, including CBS and Amazon Prime. At the time, the deal — which is worth about $60 million annually — was the largest in women’s sports.

Then, last summer, the players’ union approved a new collective bargaining agreement that overhauled salaries and benefits and modernized the way players join and change teams.

Together, they laid the groundwork for a “transformational year” for the NWSL, said the league’s chief operating officer, Sarah Jones Simmer.

“That helps us have a foundation built on both the broadcast side and the player side, which means now we can focus on continued fan growth. How do we get people to come to games, come back again to games? How do we get them tuning into our broadcasts?” Jones Simmer said. “These foundational pieces are essential for getting that right.”

One sign of success this season was the purchase of a controlling stake in Angel City FC, the team based in Los Angeles, by the media power couple of Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, and the TV anchor Willow Bay. That transaction valued the team at $250 million, the highest ever for any women’s sports franchise.

“I think investors are finally waking up to the power of women’s sports,” said Jones Simmer. “You’re seeing that change in the valuations of the clubs. You’re seeing that in the size of the media deal. You’re seeing that in the size of corporate sponsorships.”

In July, the league's Los Angeles-based franchise Angel City FC became the most valuable team in the history of women's sports, when an investment by Disney chief executive Bob Iger and his wife, the TV anchor Willow Bay, placed the team's worth at $250 million. — In July, the league’s Los Angeles-based franchise Angel City FC became the most valuable team in the history of women’s sports, when an investment by Disney chief executive Bob Iger and his wife, the TV anchor Willow Bay, placed the team’s worth at $250 million. (Katelyn Mulcahy | Getty Images)

The players, too, have noticed the difference.

Tara McKeown, a Washington Spirit defender, has played for the team since 2021 — the year their first playoff game drew only 5,300 fans. Last Sunday, her game-tying goal jolted to life this year’s much larger crowd.

“It feels amazing to be a part of this right now,” she said afterward. “We feel all the energy from the fans, and I think it just shows how much women’s sports are growing.”

Her rookie teammate Hal Hershfelt, a midfielder, said the intensity of the crowds this season had surprised and impressed her. “I mean, even when we clear a ball out of bounds, people are just raging,” she said. “It’s really cool to be a part of that.”

The league’s semifinal matches are scheduled for this weekend. On Saturday, Washington is set to host Gotham FC — a game that has already sold out — followed by a showdown between the top-seed Orlando Pride and the Kansas City Current.

The winners will meet Saturday, Nov. 23, for the championship game in Kansas City.

Transcript:

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Women’s sports have seen a massive burst in interest this year, and the National Women’s Soccer League has been no exception. This season, the League set records for ratings and attendance. Now the challenge will be to keep the momentum going as NPR’s Becky Sullivan reports.

BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: It was a sellout crowd last weekend at Washington D.C.’s soccer stadium. Fans were everywhere, decked out in black and highlighter yellow, the colors of the Washington Spirit. And with less than 30 minutes to go before the quarterfinal playoff match, I ran into Francesca Shearer with her very colorful sign.

FRANCESCA SHEARER: It’s, like, this rainbow ball, and, like, it’s sparkling up spirit.

SULLIVAN: Francesca is 7. She and her mom, Jessica, were among the nearly 20,000 people at the game, all of them part of this historic boom for women’s sports.

JESSICA: I’m not as new as some people may be to the – women’s sports, but yeah, I’m watching people catch up, and I’m also recognizing that it wasn’t like this. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t have this experience available.

SULLIVAN: Last Sunday wasn’t the first time the Spirit hosted a playoff game. The team won the championship in 2021. But here’s a figure that shows just how fast things have changed for women’s soccer. That year, the Spirits playoff opener – basically, this same game – was attended by only about 5,000 people. The stadium was mostly empty. Now it’s standing room only.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: I love D.C.

SULLIVAN: To understand how three years could make such a huge difference, I called Brandon Clark, the Spirit’s vice president for marketing. In 2021, the league was still struggling to bounce back from COVID, and the team had to split time between this stadium and a much smaller venue 40 miles away, he said.

BRANDON CLARK: However, I think the real rocket shift comes when you look at just the general movement of women’s sports and the explosion in popularity, the explosion in legitimacy. There’s a lot of people coming through those gates this past Sunday who probably never thought they would be at a professional women’s soccer match three years before.

SULLIVAN: An Olympic gold medal a few months ago by the U.S. Women’s Team helped, too. The national team was led by a trio of playmakers that included Washington’s own Trinity Rodman. A young star like that is huge for any kind of sports team, men or women.

So this is your first time coming to a game?

NATHANIEL GLASSER: To a Spirit game, yes. Yeah.

SULLIVAN: One new fan, Nathaniel Glasser, said he’s followed baseball and the NFL his whole life. Over the past few years, he’d gotten into men’s soccer. Now he’d finally taken the leap into the women’s game.

GLASSER: Well, I’ve wanted to see Trinity Rodman and a lot of the other star players for a while, and now that they’re in the quarterfinals and playing, you know, for the – in the playoffs, I thought it’d be a fantastic time to come.

SULLIVAN: And he wasn’t alone. There were other people at the stadium on a Sunday afternoon wearing their NFL jerseys. They could have been watching football. Instead, they were here.

(APPLAUSE)

SULLIVAN: Across the whole NWSL, attendance set records. This year topped 2 million for the first time, and more people than ever watched on TV thanks to a new broadcast deal. And in July, the Los Angeles team, Angel City FC, became the most valuable franchise in the history of women’s sports when an ownership deal valued the team at $250 million. Here’s Sarah Jones Simmer, the league’s chief operating officer.

SARAH JONES SIMMER: You know, I think investors are finally waking up to the power of women’s sports, and you’re seeing that change in the valuations of the clubs. You’re seeing that in the size of the media deal. You’re seeing that in the size of corporate sponsorships. It’s a really transformative moment for women’s sports, and I think it’s on all of us to demonstrate that investment is worth it.

SULLIVAN: Back at the Spirit game, the crowd of 19,000 people jolted to life on a late goal by Tara McKeown.

(APPLAUSE)

SULLIVAN: McKeown has been with the Spirit since 2021, the year they won the title. She herself played in front of that little crowd, the one that was dwarfed by the size of the crowd that came out Sunday.

TARA MCKEOWN: It’s so amazing. We feel all the energy from the fans. And I think it just shows, like, how much women’s sports are growing and women’s soccer, and it feels amazing to be a part of this right now and just having people want to come to our games and watch us.

SULLIVAN: With the win, the Spirit are on to the semifinals and will host Gotham FC on Saturday. The team has already announced a sellout. Becky Sullivan, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)