I have been a women’s sports fan for my entire lifetime, and love seeing women’s sports ‘live’ when I can.
The NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League)— the U.S.-based league for professional female soccer players—has been fledgling for years, but has finally started to come into prominence (and for some teams, profitability) in recent years.
And THAT’s the other thing about buying tickets to women’s sporting events: 1. The women’s leagues (and players) need your revenue way more than men’s teams do, and 2. The games tend to cost a fraction of what men’s sporting events cost.
Not to mention, it’s a “vibe” thing– it’s a bit hard to explain, but attending live women’s sporting events feels markedly different than attending men’s sporting events. The energy in the spaces is far different— the vibe is uplifting, encouraging, and positive (rather than combative, antagonistic, or negative).
Plus, tickets for this year’s Super Bowl championship cost about $8,000 apiece (average), I got a first-row ticket to the National Women’s Soccer League championship game for $400.
What a difference.
This year’s championship was held in San Diego, and the two teams vying for the tile were Seattle’s OL Reign, and Gotham FC (New York), two teams who fought to knock-off higher-seeded challengers in their semi-final games.
Meaning this was to be a final nobody expected— the underdogs duking it out.
Having been to many women’s sporting events throughout my life, I know to set my expectations fairly low. Lacking the massive funds that men’s leagues have, generally there’s nothing much in fanfare or festivities ahead of time, and no post-game events either.
But 2023’s NWSL Championship surprised me. My friend and I arrived with tailgating supplies in-tow, expecting little by way of official events— and were shocked to find there was an entire fan festival— complete with stage— in full swing a couple of hours before the game began.
Clearly, women’s sport had come further than I thought.
Mostly, women and families buzzed around the stadium— lining up for merchandise, and for autographs from NWSL players whose teams were knocked out of the tournament prior.
Graciously signing autographs were two young, up-and-coming, U.S. Women’s National Team players, Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave) and Jayden Shaw (San Diego Wave). These players will both be impacting the international game for decades to-come, so it was exciting to see them in-person. In fact, Jayden Shaw is on a scoring frenzy for the USWNT as they prepare to head to the Olympics.
Women’s professional sports figures have long-understood their duty both to the team they play for, and their simultaneous duty to the game as a whole— something Julie Foudy, Abby Wambach, and others have talked about at-length over the decades. The women’s game has never been able to take growth for granted, and every fan greeted is additional work— but work they know contributes to the vitality of the league for generations that are still coming up.
Also, how often do men’s sporting legends make themselves available to lines of fans (for free)? And are generous with their time as to sign every last signature? (Not nearly as often).
The game had some real drama to it before it began— it was the last game for Ali Krieger and Megan Rapinoe, both longtime fixtures of the U.S. Women’s National soccer team, were due to retire after the match. Their contributions were so important to women’s soccer. But for Rapinoe in particular, they feel nearly impossible to list— she’d won every accolade there was to win in the sport, both team and individual, including the world’s best player award— or Balloon d’Or.
And now, Rapinoe (#15) was making what was to be a grand exit on the biggest stage one could go out on— in a championship game, lined up for the Reign, the team she had played 9 consecutive seasons for. Perhaps, we thought, she could even win a last trophy to add further cement to her legacy.
There were fireworks— FIREWORKS!— before the game. And before you ask if I am just easily impressed, I’d rarely seen pyrotechnics trotted out for women’s sporting events in the past.
And then, Megan Rapinoe ran onto the field with a vigor that made her look much younger than her veteran years. Watching her leap up and down to psych herself up, I commented to my friend that she was clearly feeling feisty and ready-to-go.
The whistle sounded, and we were underway!
And only exactly 6 minutes into the game… I happened to catch the moment in which Rapinoe tore her Achilles, ending her season — and her career. It looked like nothing but a stumble, but that was it.
Rapinoe later said she knew immediately that she’d done her Achilles. I am not even kidding you when I said the people around me– all of them– were crying softly as Rapinoe was walked off the field by the medical staff. Her amazing career wasn’t supposed to end that way.
A crushing moment to witness up-close.
As you likely know, Megan Rapinoe was a player who was as-much known for her activism as her talent on the field, standing for Equal Pay with the U.S. Women’s National Team, standing with Colin Kaepernik in his protests for racial justice, and also was an early “out” athlete standing for LGBT equality (coming out way back in 2013)— in her first year as a professional player.
“I rode until the wheels fell off”— she later said of her body’s insistence on breaking down as she continued into her veteran years. She’d been fighting a myriad of injuries in the years prior, slowing down due to wear-and-tear even as she continued to be a force to be reckoned with.
Shit, I could keep citing her achievements or just drop her Wikipedia page here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Rapinoe
As much as it pained us to see Rapinoe leave the field, there was still a game to play.
And it was an exciting one! While Gotham and eventual MVP Midge Purce (what a player) was dominant, the teams were even in their level of play for most of the match.
The game came down to the last moments— and a controversial call (note the red viewing the VAR video review technology above). With the Seattle Reign down 2-1, they had been crashing the net from all directions for the final 5 minutes of the game, just barely missing attempt after attempt to equalize!!!!!
More fireworks shot off as the trophy was presented to Gotham. The crowd was so appreciative of the effort of both teams, the cheers were uplifting and exuberant throughout— as I mentioned above, perhaps the nicest thing of all about women’s sport is the effort all the fans make to keep the vibes good— even when it’s clear the result could not have pleased every fan.
I can’t say enough about the impact of this ‘good vibes’ feeling — we’ve all been to many men’s sporting events where the language used is foul, ‘boooooos’ rain down from the stands at the opposing teams, and fanatics scream corrections at the refs. The energy can get ugly quickly, as fans in the men’s games often want to see domination or dominant displays– dunks in the faces of others, or ‘owns’ of a player on defense, and so on. There’s something about attending men’s sport that always feels like a knife balancing on its edge, especially if the ‘home’ or favored team does not win, as the mood can get dour or worse, angry.
By contrast, this just does NOT happen in the women’s game.
If you haven’t been to see a ‘live’ women’s sport lately, I’d encourage you to try experiencing it soon. Sport is really much more pleasurable when the vibe is about uplifting all the athletes and then general modus operandi is more like: ‘I hope we see a good game!’ or ‘wow, we’re proud of the victors!’.
I had a blast at the NWSL Final, and was glad that indeed, we saw a very good game.
I’ll end this post by encouraging you to check out a WNBA, NWSL, a Pro Volleyball Federation game, or Athlete’s Unlimited game near you. Remember, these leagues and these fantastic athletes need your support far more than the (overbloated, overhyped, and overmonied) men’s leagues!
Posted by Sun
