Gotham FC is hauling its star power to Queens, bringing the Washington Spirit and forward Trinity Rodman to Citi Field on July 15 for a one-off match the club is hyping as "The Queens Classic." The showdown is expected to be the first professional women's sporting event ever staged at the Mets' ballpark in Flushing, a clear sign that the NWSL is ready to circle bigger dates on the calendar in major venues. Tickets for the match go on sale to the general public on March 25.
As reported by the New York Post, the July 15 matchup will pair reigning NWSL champions Gotham with the Washington Spirit and is expected to feature several World Cup winners and Olympic gold medalists at a stadium that holds nearly 42,000 fans. The club rolled out the announcement on Tuesday and immediately cast it as a centerpiece of the New York summer sports slate. Calling it the Queens Classic is no accident, either; the branding is meant to plug the game straight into the borough's busy sports calendar.
"Bringing the reigning champions together with the Washington Spirit is a testament to the momentum behind the league," club president Sarah Jones Simmer said, according to the New York Post. The matchup carries a bit of extra narrative weight, too. Gotham is coming off a title-clinching 80th-minute winner from Rose Lavelle on Nov. 22, 2025, and now gets a chance to flex that championship pedigree on a much bigger stage. League officials are hoping marquee dates like this help turn World Cup buzz into steady, week-in, week-out attendance.
Big moment for Queens soccer
The Citi Field date lands just as Queens is stepping further into the soccer spotlight, with the Etihad Park stadium project rising near Willets Point and other investments quietly reshaping the borough's sports calendar. Coverage of Etihad Park rising by Willets Point has highlighted how quickly the neighborhood is changing, and those developments give Gotham a stronger case for staging large-scale matches in Queens instead of more distant venues. The Queens Classic will also serve as a live test of just how much appetite there is for stadium-scale women's soccer in New York during an already packed summer.
Tickets and logistics
Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 25, with the club and Citi Field expected to announce presales for season-ticket holders and credit card pre-sales as the date gets closer. Citi Field's roughly 42,000-seat capacity turns this into a rare experiment for the NWSL, which will be watching the turnout numbers very closely. Easy transit access on the 7 train and the LIRR will be crucial for fans streaming in from across the city and the suburbs.
For Gotham and the league, the Queens Classic is a chance to convert international tournament attention into a reliable domestic draw and to prove that women's pro soccer can, in fact, fill a baseball stadium in New York. Expect more details soon, including ticket pricing and match-day programming, as the club builds out the summer spectacle.
