The PayPal Park in San Jose, California, will host the 2025 NWSL Championship on November 22.
The stadium, which is home to the NWSL’s Bay FC and MLS’s San Jose Earthquakes, was built for the Earthquakes and opened in 2015.
With a capacity of 18,000 spectators, PayPal Park has been the scene of numerous matches of the United States men’s and women’s national teams, including a recent 2-1 defeat of the USWNT against Brazil in April, in front of a sold-out crowd.
The USMNT will kick off its 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup campaign at PayPal Park on Sunday.
The stadium has hosted other important events, such as the 2016 MLS All-Star Game, which featured Arsenal.
We are thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with a rich history in women’s soccer like the Bay Area.
The NWSL championship in November will mark the second time in three seasons that the league final is played in California. San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium hosted the match in 2023, with an attendance of 25,011 fans, setting a new attendance record for a league final.
This season, Bay FC’s average attendance is just under 13,400 fans per game, while the Earthquakes average just under 15,500 fans per game.
Bay FC will attempt to break the NWSL regular season attendance record on August 23, when they host the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park, home of MLB’s San Francisco Giants. The current record was set last year in Chicago, when 35,038 fans attended an NWSL match at Wrigley Field.
Oracle Park can hold about 40,000 fans. Bay FC announced last week that it had sold 25,000 tickets.
The PayPal Park is located about 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, a city that the NWSL could use for other events related to its championship match, as the league tries to grow the event commercially.
Berman has consistently said that the league will adhere to the predetermined venue format.
In the final of last year in Kansas City, he said that the event requires “weeks and months of preparation”, referring to why the NFL holds the Super Bowl in a predetermined location. Most NWSL teams do not control their venues, which makes scheduling a logistical challenge.
In November, Berman stated that “for the current situation of our business and our commercial objectives, we will continue to have a neutral headquarters for the foreseeable future.”
NWSL Championship Venue History:
2013: Sahlen’s Stadium, Rochester, New York (Portland Thorns 2-0 Western New York Flash)
2014: Starfire Sports Stadium, Tukwila, Washington (FC Kansas City 2-1 Seattle Reign FC)
2015: Providence Park, Portland, Oregon (FC Kansas City 1-0 Seattle Reign FC)
2016: BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas (Western New York Flash 2-2 Washington Spirit; 3-2 Flash on penalties)
2017: Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, Florida (Portland Thorns 1-0 North Carolina Courage)
2018: Providence Park, Portland, Oregon (North Carolina Courage 3-0 Portland Thorns)
2019: WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina (North Carolina Courage 4-0 Chicago Red Stars)
2020: Season canceled (COVID-19)
2021: Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky (Washington Spirit 2-1 Chicago Red Stars)
2022: Audi Field, Washington, D.C. (Portland Thorns 2-0 Kansas City Current)
2023: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California (NJ/NY Gotham FC 2-1 OL Reign)
2024: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri (Orlando Pride 1-0 Washington Spirit)
