Spirit to remain at Audi Field for NWSL semi; Gotham shifts home tie to Icahn Stadium
The Washington Spirit will stage their NWSL semi-final at Audi Field after reaching an agreement to avoid playing at Northwest Stadium, while Gotham FC will host their semi-final at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island because Sports Illustrated Stadium’s pitch was judged unsuitable. The Spirit meet the Utah Royals on 14 November (Saturday) at noon and Gotham face the Kansas City Current on Sunday at 3pm.
The NWSL has contended with multiple venue-availability conflicts as it balanced two sought-after national television broadcast windows and stadium issues affecting semi-final hosts. Many league clubs are not primary tenants of their venues; Audi Field is owned and operated by MLS side DC United and the Spirit are not the stadium’s primary tenants. Audi Field has been the Spirit’s full-time home since 2023 and hosted their 4-1 win over the Portland Thorns to reach the semi-final. A Division III college game between the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy remained scheduled for Audi Field at 1pm on Saturday on both schools’ websites as of Monday afternoon; the Spirit would not confirm whether that game had been moved.
ESPN reported the league had prepared contingency plans that would have seen the Spirit play at Northwest Stadium, a 64,000-seat venue in Landover, Maryland, in the event both the Spirit and top-seeded Gotham advanced to the semi-finals. The Spirit have never played at Northwest Stadium in their 14-year existence, according to the report. The Audi Field agreement preserves the Saturday noon television window for the Spirit’s semi-final.
Gotham’s semi-final location was announced Monday afternoon after concerns over the condition of Sports Illustrated Stadium’s playing surface. The pitch had suffered wear-and-tear following recent soccer and rugby fixtures and was due to host an MLS friendly featuring the stadium’s owners, the New York Red Bulls, against Club América the day before the semi-final. During Gotham’s 1-0 quarter-final victory over Seattle the field was described as patchy and sandy with many visible brown spots; Reign captain Jess Fishlock called it “atrocious”.
Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós apologised and said the club attempted to mitigate the circumstances without success. Reign head coach Laura Harvey told ESPN: “Let’s be real, there’s no way a playoff game should be played on that shit. I just can’t believe they’ve allowed it. They knew it last week.” The league reportedly fined Gotham $10,000 for the poor conditions in their regular-season finale on 4 November.
Gotham captain Tierna Davidson, in the club’s news release about the relocation, said: “We as a team worked extremely hard to earn a home playoff berth. What we got was a field that is not the standard this club, this league or our fans deserve.” The club selected Icahn Stadium, which primarily hosts track events but has a natural grass pitch that was funded by MLS club New York Cit FC in 2024, as the alternative venue; Icahn previously hosted a Gotham regular-season match in July.
Icahn’s capacity is under 5,000 and is less than half of Gotham FC’s average attendance this season, a factor the club acknowledged alongside pitch considerations. Yael Averbuch West, Gotham’s president of soccer operations, said: “This was an extremely difficult decision, and one we did not take lightly. After thoughtful consultation with coach Juan Carlos Amorós, our team captains and our ownership, we felt it was important to prioritize a playing surface that appropriately allows our athletes to perform at their best. We fully understand and appreciate the impact this has on our fans, and we are equally disappointed that we won’t have the opportunity to play in front of more of our supporters at our home stadium. Unfortunately, we were faced with a difficult situation, and at the end of the day, the game is played on the field.”
The semi-final schedule is now set with the Spirit v Utah Royals on 14 November at noon (Saturday) and Gotham v Kansas City Current on Sunday at 3pm, with both matches to determine which teams advance from the NWSL semi-finals.