While USWNT’s television ratings may have dropped 10% in 2022, that was not the case with their attendance. USWNT attendance in 2022 was up compared to 2021. In fact, it was their best year in the stands since 2019. And that includes 2020, when they were able to play 8 home games before the global COVID shutdown.
USWNT 2022 Attendance
This is how crowds break down:
Best attendance since 2019
In 2022, the USWNT totaled 164,633 fans over the course of eleven games. That averages out to 14,967 fans per game. That’s the highest number since 2019 when, following a Women’s World Cup title, they totaled 376,834 fans over 15 home games for an average of 25,122 per game.
USWNT attendance in 2022 is also up 18% from 2021, when it averaged 12,703 per game in 14 home games. However, it’s still surprisingly 30% lower than the USMNT average this year, their worst attendance since 2006. But perhaps more importantly, it’s higher than it was at the same stage last cycle when they averaged 14,064 per game in 2018. .
variety of location
While it’s well documented how US Soccer has the USMNT play all of its games in the same select stadiums, that hasn’t been a problem lately for the USWNT. In 2022 they only played in one stadium that they appeared in in 2021. That was Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. Additionally, only two of the stadiums they played in in 2022 were used in 2020: Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA and Red Bull Arena in the New York area. That means seven of the eleven games played by the USWNT were played in places where they hadn’t made an appearance in several years.
Women’s World Cup
Just as the USMNT sees an attendance increase in the year after the World Cup, the USWNT usually sees its increase the year of the Women’s World Cup. 2011 saw a 100% increase from 2010, to 11,645 from 5,784. The jump in 2015 was even bigger, increasing by a staggering 157%, from 10,791 to 27,766. And in 2019 it was more of the same as the increase was 79% from 14,064 in 2018 to 25,122 the following year.
Next year’s Women’s World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand. If they pull off the treble, there’s no telling how big the crowds will be when they have their victory tour.
