Gotham FC could be forced to play a playoff semifinal away from its home stadium despite earning home-field advantage, according to league documents obtained by The Athletic. None of the top three playoff seeds that might host a semifinal have their regular home stadiums available on Nov. 14, creating a scheduling headache for the NWSL ahead of next weekend's games.
The most complicated scenario involves Gotham and San Diego both advancing. NWSL Shield winner Gotham shares Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, with Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls, who are scheduled to host Mexican club América in a friendly on Nov. 14. San Diego Wave FC, the No. 2 seed, faces a similar issue at Snapdragon Stadium, which is booked for a San Diego State football game that same Saturday. In that case, Gotham would likely play its semifinal at the 5,000-seat Icahn Stadium in New York, a venue it has used before when Sports Illustrated Stadium was unavailable.
With both clubs potentially entitled to host, the league has drawn up a contingency plan built around four priorities, in order: preserving home-market advantage, securing optimal kickoff times, protecting higher-seeded teams' scheduling preferences, and reversing home-field advantage only as a last resort.
Despite that order of priorities, the documents show the league is making an exception for the Gotham-San Diego scenario. Under the NWSL's preferred arrangement, Gotham would host its semifinal at an alternate venue on Nov. 14 even though Sports Illustrated Stadium would actually be free on Nov. 15. The reasoning: giving Gotham the Sunday date would push San Diego into a national television window set for noon ET on Nov. 14, meaning a 9 a.m. local kickoff for the Wave. The league determined avoiding that early start takes precedence over letting the higher-seeded Gotham play at its own stadium.
"While some circumstances are outside our control, we've proactively evaluated multiple scenarios and their tradeoffs to prepare for every potential matchup, with the goal of minimizing disruption to players, clubs and fans while protecting competitive integrity," the NWSL said in a statement to The Athletic. The league added it has worked closely with clubs, broadcast partners and other stakeholders to navigate the stadium availability and scheduling challenges.
The situation echoes a problem the WNBA faced last month, when it had to schedule Finals games around arenas already booked for NBA regular-season games. The WNBA made significant schedule changes, and Game 6 ended up being played at 12:30 p.m. ET on a Thursday in Atlanta, frustrating players and fans.
Not every team faces the same obstacles
The scheduling complications aren't uniform across the NWSL playoff field. The Kansas City Current would face far fewer hurdles if they host a semifinal, since they don't share their venue with another team. In fact, the league's contingency plan identifies only three scenarios that satisfy all four scheduling priorities, and each one involves Kansas City advancing and hosting at CPKC Stadium.
Other outcomes could create bigger headaches. The most difficult scenario, according to the documents, would be if Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC both advance and earn hosting rights. In that case, a 9 a.m. local kickoff in one of the matches would be unavoidable even under the league's preferred scheduling arrangements.
A longer-term fix still years away
The episode highlights a broader infrastructure issue for the NWSL. Even as investment in dedicated training facilities and stadiums has picked up, several clubs remain secondary tenants at venues where other teams and events get scheduling priority, a problem that becomes especially consequential during the playoffs.
"These challenges also reinforce why stadium infrastructure and meaningful control or influence over venue availability have been central to our growth strategy for years," the league said in a statement to The Athletic.
Gotham is already working on a longer-term solution. In July, the club announced plans to move to New York City FC's new Etihad Park in Queens in 2028. Unlike its current arrangement at Sports Illustrated Stadium, Gotham will be one of two primary tenants at the new venue, with its own locker room, permanent branding and greater say over scheduling. That move remains two years away, offering no relief for this month's playoff dilemma.
