Bay FC set a new record attendance for an NWSL game, with a sold-out crowd of 40,091 watching its loss to the Washington Spirit at San Francisco's Oracle Park on Saturday.
The previous record was set when the Chicago Stars hosted Bay FC at Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs, when 35,038 attended in June 2024.
Bay FC regularly plays its home matches at PayPal Park in San Jose, averaging over 13,400 fans there per match, but switched Saturday's historic game to the home of the San Francisco Giants.
Former Giants left fielder and baseball's career home run leader Barry Bonds was at the game.
"The players deserve it. They've worked so hard and this league has come such a long way," Bay FC coach Albertin Montoya said about the crowd. "When you get football like that, I think ever single person that watched that game can leave and say 'Hey, I'd do this again,' because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around."
As well as a new record for the NWSL, which began play in 2013, Saturday's crowd was also a new high mark for any United States women's professional sports league. The NWSL has now set 48 of the top 50 most attended matches in U.S. women's professional league sports history.
Bay FC's previous record crowd was the 18,000 who attended the team's inaugural NWSL game in March 2024.
"The atmosphere was fantastic," Spirit coach Adrián González said. "The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to have an experience like this, I think, is just something unique for the players, for the staff, for the soccer community, for the fans. So grateful to be part of this."
There was not as much to celebrate on the field, though, for Bay FC. Kate Wiesner, Croix Bethune and Kelli Hubly all scored in the first half for the Washington Spirit, who named United States star Trinity Rodman in the starting lineup for the first time in five months.
Racheal Kundananji and Kelli Hubly reduced the deficit for Bay FC but it couldn't find an equalizer to avoid stretching its winless streak to six games.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.