Women’s Sports Teams Deserve Better Than What Their Homes Are Giving Them

Gotham FC, the current reigning National Women’s Soccer Team champions, are on their way to winning another title. But their journey—which includes the chance to host their first semifinal game at home—has come with a major surprise: a change of venues. After their quarterfinal match against the Seattle Reign FC ended with a messed-up pitch and a fine against Gotham FC due to its conditions, the team was forced to find another place for their next match. The bigger issue? Their only option is a 5,000-person stadium located in Randall’s Island, New York.Over 11,000 people made their way to Sports Illustrated Stadium—the home to Gotham FC as well as the MLS’s New York Red Bulls—to see them take down Seattle Reign FC. This means that less than half of that audience will be able to catch them at the match that can lead them to the finals.While pitch conditions are absolutely important for the safety of the players and a big enough reason to change venues, the option to upgrade the pitch to a hybrid model was shut down by none other than New York Red Bulls due to a friendly game—AKA a game that does not count towards their season—they have on Saturday. Although the pitch would be ready for Gotham FC’s big game, RBNY shut down the plan as it wouldn’t be ready for their planned friendly. All of a sudden, a game-making match for a winning women’s team was being moved to a much smaller space due to a men’s game that does not count towards anything.If you’re getting a sense of deja vu, that’s because this is not the first time a women’s team had to change their plans due to a men’s team. The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream were forced to move one of their WNBA Finals games from 8 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. on a Thursday. While the move was caused by them switching venues—going from their home at the Gateway Center, which fits 3,500 to the State Farm Arena which seats 17,000—it was also caused by a scheduled Atlanta Hawks game, a team that hasn’t won an NBA title since the 1950s.San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers//Getty ImagesIt’s clear that no matter where they go, these women’s teams’ homes are not giving them what they need: a space where they can continue to host their ever-growing fanbases without fear of having to fall to the needs of a men’s team. The WNBA had a 21 percent increase in attendance to their games in 2026. The NWSL also gained some new faces in the crowd with a 3 percent increase, according to Sports Business Journal.In 2028, Gotham FC will move to Etihad Park, a new stadium that will hold 25,000 fans in Queens, NYC. However, they’ll still have the problem of sharing the field with New York City FC, meaning this problem can always come up again.A clear solution would be to give these incredible teams their own venues, but it’s evident that, financially, building a new stadium is not the easiest for some of these teams who are still growing. But, maybe next time, these men’s teams will just get the hint and let the real winners take over. It’s their home, too, after all.