Gotham to play NWSL semi at 5K seat venue due to shoddy home field

Defending champions Gotham FC will host their NWSL semifinal match against the Kansas City Current at Icahn Stadium in New York City on Sunday, relocating the game from Sports Illustrated Stadium due to poor field conditions. Icahn Stadium is a 5,000-seat venue with a grass field surrounded by a track. It is located on Randall's Island in New York City and often hosts amateur events as well as some games for NYCFC's second team. Gotham previously played there in July when SI Stadium, located in Harrison, New Jersey, was unavailable due to the 2026 Men's World Cup. "This was an extremely difficult decision, and one we did not take lightly," Gotham FC president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West said in a statement. "After thoughtful consultation with coach Juan Carlos Amorós, our team captains, and our ownership, we felt it was important to prioritize a playing surface that appropriately allows our athletes to perform at their best. Providing our players with a high-quality surface to compete is a responsibility we take very seriously." Sources told ESPN that executives from Gotham FC, the NWSL, and MLS' New York Red Bulls (the primary tenants at SI Stadium) engaged in talks throughout Sunday night and Monday to find a solution for resodding the field at the stadium, but ultimately could not agree on a feasible remedy. Players and coaches from Gotham and Seattle Reign FC described the field as "atrocious" and well below standards after Gotham won Sunday's quarterfinal there 1-0 without putting a shot on goal. According to league documents obtained by ESPN last week, Gotham was supposed to host a semifinal match at SI Stadium if they advanced and the No. 3 seed Washington Spirit also hosted a semifinal. Washington defeated the Portland Thorns 4-1 in Sunday's other quarterfinal. No. 2 seed San Diego Wave FC lost to the Royals on Friday, clearing the path for Washington to host Utah with its win. In the original plan laid out by the league, the Spirit would relocate from Audi Field to play at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, home of the NFL's Washington Commanders, for a Saturday, Nov. 14 semifinal. But as Sunday's quarterfinals played out, the Spirit worked with MLS' D.C. United (who controls Audi Field) to reschedule an NCAA Division III football game on Saturday and make it possible for the Spirit to play at Audi Field, which will also host the NWSL Championship on Nov. 21. D.C. United has not confirmed the new time of the football game, but it will take place at Audi Field. It could kick off Saturday night, following the Noon ET NWSL semifinal. One of the Spirit's sponsors helped cover the costs associated with moving the football game. "The quality of the game is not up for debate, so we've made the difficult decision to move to Icahn Stadium on Sunday," said Gotham defender Tierna Davidson in a release on Monday. "A smaller stadium means many of you will not be there, and that is the hardest part of this decision. You have turned every ground where we have played into home, and that does not change on Sunday. We have never needed a perfect setting to make a place ours. "Bring everything you have on Sunday, and we will leave it all on the field." The Spirit playing on Saturday at Audi Field was not one of the nine potential semifinal possibilities laid out in the NWSL's original plans, according to the documents obtained by ESPN, but it did resolve all conflicts for regular team venues, since Gotham could then play on Sunday, Nov. 15. The NWSL's national TV slots for the two semifinals could not be changed. But on Sunday night, attention then turned to whether it was safe to play a semifinal on the sandy, choppy field at SI Stadium. The Red Bulls are scheduled to play a friendly against Mexico's Club America there on Saturday night. Gotham FC control owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett made calls to contacts around the NFL -- the Tisch family owns the New York Giants -- to source solutions for resodding or repairing grass, a source with knowledge of the conversations confirmed to ESPN. Gotham and the NWSL worked through the feasibility of finding new grass and replacing the field at SI Stadium at their own cost, although Gotham is not the primary tenant and does not control the stadium. Those conversations included New York Red Bulls, including Red Bulls general manager Marc de Grandpré, a source confirmed to ESPN. Plans changed multiple times on Sunday night as Gotham and NWSL staff worked from SI Stadium and remotely to find a solution. At one point, the NWSL and Gotham were set to announce a move to Icahn Stadium for the semifinal, but they paused that plan to continue working through the night and into Monday on a potential solution to resod the field at SI Stadium. The Red Bulls ultimately have final say over what gets done to the field. "We exhausted every possible avenue before making this decision, and we are deeply disappointed that so many of our fans will now be unable to experience this moment alongside our team," Tisch Blodgett said in a statement. "Our players deserve a playing surface that meets the standards of a professional semifinal, and our fans deserve the opportunity to support them. We have worked tirelessly to deliver on both and are disappointed that we cannot. We are grateful to Icahn Stadium for working with us on such short notice to ensure our team has a place to compete for a Championship spot on Sunday." A New York Red Bulls spokesperson provided the following statement to ESPN: "We wish Gotham FC the best of luck in their semifinal at Icahn Stadium. We look forward to our match on Saturday at Sports Illustrated Stadium." Last week, the NWSL fined Gotham FC $10,000 for the poor quality of the playing surface at SI Stadium on the final day of the regular season (Nov. 1), ESPN previously reported. A spokesperson for the NWSL Players Association told ESPN on Monday that the union was not informed of the fine last week. SI Stadium hosted a USA Rugby doubleheader on Oct. 30, two days before Gotham's regular-season finale, which contributed to the deteriorating quality of the field. "I feel the obligation to almost apologize for the state of the pitch," Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said after Sunday's quarterfinal win in which Gotham became the first NWSL team to win a playoff game without having a single shot on target. "Let's be real, there's no way a playoff game should be played on that s---," Seattle Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey told ESPN after her team's loss to hosts Gotham. "I just can't believe they've allowed it. They knew it last week." She continued: "We can ignore it and not talk about it, or we can be really honest about it," Harvey added on Sunday. "And if what we're trying to create is a product that people want to watch -- they don't want to watch that. Who wants to watch that?" Seattle was Gotham's opponent for game in July at Icahn Stadium. Gotham FC announced in July that the team would move to Etihad Stadium in Queens beginning in 2028. Etihad Stadium is currently under construction and is scheduled to open next year as the new home of New York City FC, the Red Bulls' local rival in MLS.