Gotham FC (National Women's Soccer League) @ Sports Illustrated Stadium (Harrison, NJ)

My first look at a uniquely American idea: Soccer-Specific Stadiums

*This trip occurred on September 7, 2025.

I’ve briefly talked about the “weird” and “wild” history of women’s hockey in the United States on this blog, but today we’re going to discuss women’s soccer - AKA the version of soccer this country ACTUALLY has a good history with (y’know, with the four World Cup wins and all that).

You may be surprised to learn that the United States was the first country IN THE WORLD to establish a fully professional women’s soccer/football league. It was established in 2000 in the wake of the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) famously winning the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It did not last very long, however - it folded in 2003, but a replacement league known as Women’s Professional Soccer (how descriptive) started in 2009. That league didn’t last long either - in part due to massive legal battles the league waged with one of its owners. In 2012, WPS folded and the National Women’s Soccer League was founded¹; they played their first season in 2013, and have been the top women’s soccer league in the U.S. ever since (which, at 12 seasons as of this writing, is double the other two leagues COMBINED)². One interesting note I found out in looking more into the league: the NWSL's regular season is essentially the same as most soccer leagues outside of America, where each team plays every other team once home and once away (which adds up to 26 games with the current 14-team league, but will move to 30 games when two new teams start up next year).

Gotham FC’s story begins in that second league (Women’s Professional Soccer). Originally founded as a semi-pro team, Sky Blue FC (yes, that was their name at the time) joined WPS at its founding, and then “jumped” with several other teams to the NWSL when WPS went down. In 2021, they changed their name to “NJ/NY Gotham FC”, though they ultimately dropped the “NJ/NY” geographic locator in 2025³. On the field, the team has historically been...okay: they've only made the playoffs five times, but two of those five playoff runs ended in a championship (2009 and 2023). In the stands, they're...also okay, as they're somewhere in the middle of the NWSL's attendance rankings (though a bit towards the lower half).

The team originally played at the soccer stadium of Rutgers University down in Piscataway, NJ, but around the time of the Gotham FC name change, they partnered with Red Bull New York of Major League Soccer and started playing games at what is now Sports Illustrated Stadium - a stadium that had been announced in 2000 when the local MLS team was still called the MetroStars, redesigned once Red Bull (yep, THAT Red Bull) bought and rebranded the team (RIP MetroStars), and (finally) opened in 2010 as Red Bull Arena (not to be confused with Red Bull Arena in Austria...or Germany).

I had made plans to watch the Red Bulls last year when I got a ticket deal from the New Jersey Devils, but was forced to abandon those plans when something came up. Truth be told, this game wasn’t even on my “radar” until one day, a bunch of “schedule shenanigans” made me think about going to a game that night; unfortunately, a 7:30 start time ended that idea. However, I looked at their schedule and saw some more reasonable start times, so I began to explore going to a different game - which ended up being this one. Before I get to the game itself, I'd like to talk about tickets, as I learned something VERY important in getting my seat for this game - which I'll use as an example of the basic stuff.

The least expensive "standard" seats for your typical Gotham FC match (as in NOT the resale market) are in what is marked as the “Supporters’ Section” behind one of the goals. Be forewarned however: it’s essentially standing only as the seats are locked in the upright position and away team gear is not allowed (though individual “seats” are sold). I considered going for this, but felt I wanted somewhere to actually sit (despite seeing people get creative in this section at other games), so I ended up going for an actual seat.

When I first looked into getting a ticket, seats were...not exactly "expensive", but a bit more than I was comfortable paying for. However, I ultimately ended up not buying my ticket until the day before the game, and at that point, there were many seats available on the resale market for much less than what I had initially seen. There are (likely) a few reasons for this, but one of them is that folks who are genuinely looking to recoup some money if they can't go are trying to get their tickets sold. I don't think this works for EVERYTHING, but it is something to keep in mind (especially considering ticket prices nowadays). In this case, fifteen bucks (plus) got me a FRONT ROW SEAT behind one of the goals less than 24 hours before the game. While I ended up sitting further up for part of the game (and kinda preferred it IMO), it's definitely fun to be so close to the action (plus if the game's not interesting, watching the subs warm up is kinda fun). One other thing I should mention: the stadium uses TicketMaster, but Sports Illustrated has its own ticketing platform; I don't know how said platform works (which is probably part of why the stadium isn't using it), but it was what I used to get into the MLW series I saw back in June 2025.

Anyway, back to our featured presentation...

This is, notably, the first time I've EVER been to a soccer-specific stadium. For anyone outside of the U.S. and Canada who doesn't understand that term, I won't get too deep into what that means (as it should be self evident), but essentially, it wasn't until the early 2000s that the U.S. started building smaller stadiums specifically for soccer teams. Prior to that, they were often set up in larger stadiums for American football, which while it did "work", meant that games often had their atmosphere muted by the scores of empty upper deck seats (though some teams still have this problem to some extent - including the MLS team closest to Boston which I can't tell if I like or not)⁴.

This stadium is...kinda interesting: fans enter at field level, where there's a few things once you get through the gates, but not much outside of storage areas and - for this game (and seemingly most Gotham FC games) - a merch table. The main concourse is at what's essentially the "second level", and encircles the field completely, with a ton of (pretty overpriced) concession stands and a few merch shops (more on them later). There's also a bunch of old Sports Illustrated cover images around the concourse - something I assume was added once SI bought the naming rights to the stadium.

The upper sections were closed off for this game, but indications are that there's an upper concourse. It does not completely encircle the field, however, as it's broken up along one of the sidelines by suites. I believe the building that houses these suites also prevents the ground level "concourse" from fully wrapping around the stadium as well (as I believe it houses the team facilities at ground level - or at least, the tunnel the players walk through at the start of the match).

Before the match, there was a fan fest just outside the stadium. I felt like there weren't a lot of SUPER interesting things here, but it is the only place I found entertainment that wasn't the game itself. As for the actual match itself, Gotham FC outplayed their opponents (Angel City FC from Los Angeles, CA), but went into halftime down a goal thanks to some weird fluke. They took the lead early in the second half, and cruised to a 3-1 victory. Given that this game also coincided with week 1 of the 2025 NFL season (which saw the Jets and Giants lose because of course they did), it was nice to see a football team based in New Jersey actually win a game...

(Also, as a software/web developer, why is the favicon for Gotham FC’s website the Vercel logo? The team store has their badge as its favicon, so what happened?)

MERCH

I’ve seen Gotham FC jerseys at many a Dick’s Sporting Goods around this area, but never felt compelled to get one. When the idea of this trip started to brew in my mind, the idea of getting a Gotham FC jersey did as well, but a quick online check implied that supplies were a bit limited. However, I saw the price of a Gotham FC jersey on their online team store and immediately knew that if I wanted a jersey, it would 100% have to be from Dick’s (which was kinda nice as it meant I’d be able to wear it to the match)⁵.

A few weeks before this game, I got a jersey from a Dick's Sporting Goods: a black jersey with “Statue of Liberty teal” highlights on the front (my other option had a teal body, but was a much worse design IMO). I almost got a scarf then and there as well, but felt that I wasn’t that interested in its design (and a revisit to the online team store confirmed that they had better designs).

At the match, there were two merch areas: one just inside the stadium (which is accessible during the pregame fan fest) and one on the main concourse; I ended up getting a scarf and a replica NWSL soccer ball (with Gotham FC logo). While some of the jackets did look interesting, I didn't feel like I'd be using them enough to justify a purchase (that and the one I was most interested in looked like it may not have been unisex⁶). In addition, I ended up going home with some freebies - a pin and certificate to celebrate my first Gotham FC match, plus a rally towel and photo strip as part of a special "New Fan Night" promotion (which also included FREE ALCOHOL).

I will briefly mention that the Red Bulls merchandise areas (a full store and a mini store on opposite ends of the main concourse) were closed. A Red Bulls match is not looking likely for 2025, but I'm thinking about going in 2026 since some of my friends are really into soccer (plus I'm curious to see if they do the same thing New York City FC did - though initial indications didn't look good...).