Abe Arredondo-USA TODAY Sports

“Attendance and ticket sales are the rocket fuel that feeds the growth of this league,” is an expression National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman has grown fond of in 2023.

Berman first used the phrase after this year’s historic opening weekend when over 90,000 fans — or an average of about 15,000 fans per match — attended the season’s first six games, shattering the previous record average of 10,150 set in 2022. Most recently, Berman used the phrase during the announcement of the league’s new media rights deal at championship weekend in San Diego, while she discussed the importance of broadcasting in local markets.

Ticket sales are clearly a priority for the commissioner and the league, which makes sense considering that they are still typically the largest source of revenue for each NWSL club. While most professional sports leagues generate the majority of their revenue through broadcast rights, it’s unclear whether NWSL clubs will see any of the $60 million annual revenue from the new media deal. This leaves club sponsorships and ticketing as the biggest sources of income for each team. And that means that for teams to be sustainable, they need to be selling tickets.

The good news for the NWSL is that, overall, 2023 brought significant growth. The league reported a 26% increase in average attendance in 2023 with 1.2 million tickets sold. And just as the season opened by breaking records, it closed that way, too, with the NWSL Championship drawing a record 25,011 fans to Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego to watch NJ/NY Gotham beat OL Reign and take home their first championship trophy.

But while the NWSL is growing overall, not every club has caught hold of that rocket ship. And if most clubs are, in fact, growing, are they all growing enough to be sustainable?

To truly understand the ways in which the NWSL grew — and did not grow — in 2023, let’s take a deeper look at some key takeaways from this season’s attendance.

(Photo Credit Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

When Twila Kilgore was completing her U.S. Soccer Pro License — the top coaching license in the country — she was tasked with studying another coach for the full year. She decided to study Emma Hayes, the Chelsea women’s head coach who had built the team into England’s gold-standard and a consistent contender in Europe.

Two years later, Kilgore is now working with Hayes. Kilgore’s familiarity with Hayes could come in handy as the United States women’s natoinal team navigates an uncertain time.

Kilgore is the interim U.S. head coach tasked with setting up the team for the impending arrival of Hayes as head coach in May, at which point Kilgore will become a full-time assistant on Hayes’ staff. How it is all going to work over the next six months is still a work in progress.

Hayes is still the full-time coach of Chelsea through the end of the European season in May, and she insisted this week that she is not watching U.S. players in her spare time. She’s 100% focused on Chelsea, she said. But Hayes is at least in contact with Kilgore about the selection of U.S. rosters.

The final two are set for the Liga MX Femenil 2023 Apertura Gran Final.

Tigres and Club América will compete in the two-legged final on Friday, Nov. 24, and Monday, Nov. 27. Both matches are slated to begin at 9 a.m. The matches will air on ViX+.

This is Tigres’ eighth trip to the Gran Final, winning five titles. Meanwhile, Club América are the reigning champions, defeating Pachuca in the spring Clausura. América has competed in three finals, winning two — both against Pachuca.

Their lone final loss was to Club Tigres in the 2022 Apertura.

To punch their ticket to the final, Tigres took down C.F. Monterrey, while América took down Chivas de Guadalajara. Tigres won on a more controversial goal, while América and Chivas had a seven-goal affair between two legs. Take a look and catch up on what happened before this weekend’s Gran Final.

Tigres 1, Monterrey 0

After a scoreless first leg match on Rayadas’ home field, the teams met up at El Volcán on Monday night. Stephany Mayor scored the game-winning goal in the 81st minute, but not without controversy.

Tigres got the ball in the attacking half, and crossed the ball over to Lizbeth Ovalle. The veteran midfielder headed the ball down, but Pamela Tajonar blocked the shot out, instead of grabbing the ball. Maricarmen Reyes raced to gather the ball up quickly, slide tackling into a Monterrey player.

The referee whistled to play on, giving Tigres new life. The ball found its way to Mayor in front of goal and she smacked it on the valley past Tajonar. Rayadas played holler at the referee but a decision had been made to keep the goal.

Monterrey could not find the back of the net in the last few minutes. Tigres, on the other hand, advanced to their ninth Gran Final. Keeping a clean sheet against Monterrey isn’t easy, when facing off against the likes of Christina Burkenroad, Myra Delgadillo and Jermaine Seoposenwe. Tigres needs more lethal play from Reyes and Ovalle, their regular-season standouts. But, the defense can be satisfied with two clean sheets.

Club América 4, Chivas 3

Four different players found the back of the net for Club América in their two legs against Chivas. Club América didn’t dominate on the defensive side of the ball — letting three goals past them — but stunned offensively.

Katty Martínez and Alison González scored in the first leg, while Kiana Palacios and Andrea Pereira scored in Leg 2. To kick things off, Martínez scored off a header during the run of play, with midfielder Angelique Saldivar providing the assist. Meanwhile, González — whose time with América has been riddled with injuries — scored after winning a ball on a breakaway and then taking on Chivas goalkeeper Blanca Félix, slipping the ball through her legs.

At home for Leg 2, América were able to keep Alicia Cervantes off the score sheet — after she scored two goals in Leg 1. However, Chivas got on the board first thanks to Casandra Montero. The home field advantage propelled América, though, as Palacios and Pereira scored within five minutes of each other.

In the 75th minute, Palacios put a hard strike into the top of the goal, just narrowly sneaking it underneath the crossbar. In the 79th minute, Pereira picked up a loose ball off a corner kick and sent it, through traffic, into the low far corner of the net.

Club América were able to hold off Cervantes and company for the last 10 minutes and stoppage time, punching their ticket to a second-straight Gran Final.