WASHINGTON — The recent growth of interest in women’s sports is undeniable. Several women’s teams have seen their fans multiply in recent years including the Washington Spirit Women’s Soccer Team.
The women in sports are finally getting their shine that they deserve, and fans said they are glad to give them the recognition.
“We came out to just support women’s sports today in soccer,” a mother bringing her daughter to the game, Tumay Harding said.
Several families brought their young children to the game against the Utah Royals FC on Sunday, specifically their daughters.
“Just wanted her to see some professional women out there playing,” a father bringing his daughter to game, Taylor Martin said. “I want her to know there’s nothing a girl can’t do.”
“We have season tickets,” one fan with her daughter, Jennifer Borders said. “And this is just an opportunity for us to spend some time together and we have the presence of strong women.”
The team saw a record-breaking attendance for their home opener last week with 11,734 fans.
“I play soccer, I like the team,” soccer player attending, Paige Borders said.
“I think is just the entertainment piece I think people want to come for the experience,” Washington Spirit & US Women’s Soccer Team forward, Trinity Rodman said.
The Spirit moved to Audi Field full-time before last season. Capacity at their old home field was just 5,000 and they really needed more seats, proving more interest in the team.
Twelve of the Spirit’s regular season matches have had over 10,000 people in attendance at Audi Field. On average last season, the team would host 11,000 fans per game.
“I just love the idea that we can pursue this interest with her and then we have role models we can look to and she can lean into,” Jennifer Borders said.
“I love being able to show her that we can actually improve with what we had in the past and make sure she gets what she wants in life,” mother attending game with her daughter, Ashley Dudley said. “She wants to go pro and be on the U.S. team at some point.”
The fan base keeps growing more and more.
“We’re in the Baltimore-area but we have season passes this year so we’re going to be at every home game possible,” Dudley said.
“This environment is insane it’s been growing since I’ve been here,” Rodman said. “So I mean just very appreciative and again a blessing to have so many supporters.”
Fans lined up after the game just to have a chance to talk to players and get autographs.
Trinity Rodman
“It’s amazing, obviously I was that little girl once, to be able to interact with them and have that human interaction is amazing,” Rodman said.
It’s not just this team getting love.
“I’m definitely enjoying the Clark effect, the big uptick,” Martin said.
We’ve seen women’s basketball break attendance and viewership records in recent years.
The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games reported an increase of more than 60,000 fans over 2023, with a then-record of 231,677 fans in attendance.
According to ESPN, Monday’s second round NCAA Women’s Tournament marked the largest pre-Final Four audience in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament history broadcast by ESPN with an average of 4.9 million viewers with a matchup between the No. 1 seed Hawkeyes and No. 8 seed West Virginia Mountaineers.
“I just like the idea that we can look at women sports now, and we see the value in it,” Jennifer Borders said. “It’s nice to see yourself represented in that athletic domain.”
“Women play such a big part in today, in our culture today,” Harding said. “I think we’re role models as mothers, as business women and as athletes and it’s just so inspiring to see that for my daughter to see that she can do anything, she can be anything.”
The momentum surrounding women’s sports is expected to continue for Monday night’s NCAA Tournament game with women’s basketball matchup between LSU and Iowa.
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