Gotham FC to play at Citi Field in first women's sporting event at Mets' ballpark
Players of NJ/NY Gotham FC pose for a team photo with the trophy and the Key to the City at City Hall during the NWSL 2025 Champions Parade on Nov. 24, 2025, in New York City. Credit: Getty Images/Stephanie Keith
It’s going to be their pitch.
Figuratively and literally.
Gotham FC will play a National Women’s Soccer League regular season game at Citi Field during the 2026 season, the team announced at a press conference at the ballpark Tuesday afternoon.
Entitled “The Queens Classic At Citi Field,” Gotham will host the Washington Spirit on July 15. It will be the first match between the teams since Gotham defeated the Spirit, 1-0, in the NWSL championship game on Nov. 22, 2025, at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
The game will be the first women’s sporting event at the 17-year-old ballpark, and it will take place four days before the men’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium.
“Our players deserve stages like that,” NWSL Chief Operating Officer Sarah James Sinner said during the question-and-answer session. Sinner was joined by Gotham owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, general manager Yael Averbuch West, defenders Tierna Davidson and Jess Carter and Mets Executive Vice President of Ballpark Operations Katie Haas.
Sinner later told Newsday that the game “certainly means something extra special being in the New York area and all that this part of the country means to the broader media and entertainment landscape.”
Tickets for the game will go on sale next Wednesday, and Haas said the expectation is that it will sell out. According to Haas, Citi Field seats slightly more than 42,000 for soccer.
“I’m confident,” Hass told Newsday. “The popularity of women’s sports right now in general is so high and so I think it’s just going to be a perfect collision of a wonderful record-breaking opportunity that we have and people coming out and making history and being a part of that.”
