The 2022 NWSL opening weekend shattered the league’s previous average attendance record for its opening weekend, buoyed by Angel City’s historic home opener at Banc of California Stadium.
A crowd of 22,000 fans showed up to cheer ACFC to a 2-1 win in its regular-season debut against the North Carolina Courage on Friday.
Providence Park also hosted a sizable crowd of 13,672 spectators for the Thorns’ win over Kansas City, while Washington played to a 2-1 victory against OL Reign in front of 10,177 fans at Audi Field.
The Houston Dash played in front of the fourth-largest crowd in franchise history as 7,722 spectators packed PNC Stadium.
The average attendance on opening weekend rang in at 10,150, the largest average for an opening weekend since the league’s first season in 2013. This year’s mark beat the previous high (7,880, in 2016) by a 2,270-fan margin, according to Soccer America.
Average attendance for @NWSL tops 10,000 for first time. (Also of note: six different #USWNT players from most recent call-ups scored.) pic.twitter.com/MsUz25NDh4— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) May 2, 2022
Average attendance for @NWSL tops 10,000 for first time. (Also of note: six different #USWNT players from most recent call-ups scored.) pic.twitter.com/MsUz25NDh4
The league averaged 7,386 fans across all games in 2019, setting the league record for average attendance in a season, Soccer America reported.