USWNT attendance in 2024
Drops less than 1% from 2023
It was quite the 2024 for the USWNT. They got a new coach in Emma Hayes, widely regarded as the best women’s coach in the world. And they went to the Olympics in Paris and won the gold medal, their first Olympic triumph since London 2012.
It was especially important for the USWNT to have a good 2024 considering how badly they had done at three of their last four major tournaments. At Rio 2016 they were eliminated from the Olympics in the quarter-finals. They did win the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but only managed the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics before crashing out in the Round of 16 at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.
But did the attendance for the USWNT in 2024 match their return to success?
February 20 - USA vs. Dominican Republic - Dignity Health Sports Park - 3,242
February 23 - USA vs. Argentina - Dignity Health Sports Park - 8,315
February 26 - USA vs. Mexico - Dignity Health Sports Park - 11,612
March 3 - USA vs. Colombia - BMO Stadium - 16,746
March 6 - USA vs. Canada - Snapdragon Stadium - 15,245
March 10 - USA vs. Brazil - Snapdragon Stadium - 31,528
April 6 - USA vs. Japan - Mercedes-Benz Stadium - 50,644
April 9 - USA vs. Canada - Lower.com Field - 19,049
June 1 - USA vs. South Korea - Dick’s Sporting Goods Park - 19,010
June 4 - USA vs. South Korea - Allianz Field - 19,169
July 13 - USA vs. Mexico - Sports Illustrated Stadium - 26,376
July 16 - USA vs. Costa Rica - Audi Field - 18,972
October 24 - USA vs. Iceland - Q2 Stadium - 18,580
October 27 - USA vs. Iceland - Geodis Park - 17,018
October 30 - USA vs. Argentina - Lynn Family Stadium - 13,543
The average attendance for the USWNT in 2024 was 19,270 people per game over the course of 15 home games. That represents a drop of less than 1% from 19,461 fans per game over the course of 12 home games in 2023.
The most eye-catching number was the crowd of 50,644 for a She Believes Cup game against Japan at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That is the largest USWNT crowd since they drew 49,504 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia back in 2019, and the first time the USWNT has hit 50,000 for a home game since the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl drew 90,185.
The flip side to drawing 50,000 people in Atlanta was drawing poorly for the CONCACAF W Gold Cup in February. The three group stage games were all played at Dignity Health Sports Park and all drew 11,000 people or fewer. However, this is not a surprise and is a routine occurrence for CONCACAF events. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that, when three games are played in the same stadium in less than a week, fans tend to be a little bit choosier on which game they go to.
Perhaps most interestingly was the USWNT visited a place they had not been to since 2004. They closed their home slate out by playing at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Since opening in 2020, Lynn Family Stadium has been the home of Louisville City in the USL Championship and, more importantly for the USWNT, of Racing Louisville in the NWSL. The return of the USWNT for the first time in 20 years drew a crowd of 13,543, the second largest crowd in the history of the stadium. With Louisville also a potential base camp city for the World Cup next year, many are hopeful that a USMNT game will happen soon.
Photo Credit: USA Today
Here's hoping that the USWNT will play in more USL soccer specific stadiums in the near future, such as One Knoxville's new stadium, or that river's edge "posh soccer palace" --as referred to by CBS announcers!-- at Providence, RI. The USWNT --even if it's just the "C" team-- would be guaranteed to sell out both of these stadiums!