Washington Spirit want to 'write a new chapter' in hosting 2026 NWSL Championship

The NWSL champion will be crowned in D.C. this year, and while the Washington Spirit's top priority is battling their way to a home final on the field, the club figures to play a major role in the off-field challenge as well.

Earlier this month, an announcement at Audi Field confirmed that the 2026 NWSL Championship will be played at the busy home of the Spirit, D.C. United, D.C. Power FC, the DC Defenders UFL football team, and (in the near future) and a Major League Volleyball team that will begin play in 2027.

The NWSL played the 2022 final at the same venue, and while the club's business and gameday operations staff expects that some knowledge from that event can be carried over, Spirit CEO Kim Stone told Green Line Soccer that both Washington and the league are thinking bigger.

"It's a different time, so a different time requires a different approach," said Stone in an exclusive interview. "For where we are with women's sports, where this city is, and where our fan base is, and where the Spirit is as a team, it's not where it was in 2022."

NWSL COO Sarah Jones Simmer told reporters that Audi Field had been in the league's mind since before last year's championship, which was held at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif. For Jones Simmer, the league wanted to make sure they were in a premier market for women's soccer just as much as they wanted to be in a good venue.

"We have high standards for the facility itself. It needs to be a world-class field," explained Jones Simmer. "We're looking for a quality facility, but we really do look for strong fans and community. We look for a market that's going to have partners that show up and help support us in making every year feel bigger and better and stronger than the last.

"We did host [the] championship here in 2022, so much has changed in terms of the Spirit and their fans and the way this market shows up for women's soccer. So, we're excited to build on that legacy, but also to write a new chapter. And I think when you hear our announcements about some of the ancillary events, you'll see just how much bigger this [year's will be]."

The league has already confirmed that as it hosts the championship game, D.C. will also host the 2026 NWSL Awards ceremony, the NWSL Skills Challenge, and a fan fest before the final. Venues for those events have yet to be determined.

By comparison, NWSL end-of-season awards were doled out to Portland Thorns and Kansas City Current players during a media roundtable event in the Dockmaster Building on the Wharf. The Skills Challenge didn't start until 2023, while the fan fest was held on Parcel B, the plot of grass directly to the east of Audi Field. As of the 2024 final, held at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, the fan fest alone took up a far larger footprint, including a larger stage for pre-match events.

Jones Simmer noted that the amount of non-game programming is a factor in the league's continued preference for naming a neutral site well ahead of the championship rather than awarding the final to the highest seed remaining in the playoffs.

"The preparation for [championship weekend], candidly, takes an enormous amount of time," explained Jones Simmer. "Given how competitive our league is, we genuinely don't know who's going to be playing in the championship until the week prior, and so we've made the decision to focus on naming a neutral site and being able to really build out the championship platform. Obviously, it's something we'll continue to consider as the game grows and evolves, and as we add new clubs to the league."

Spirit CEO Stone: 'Third time's the charm'

Stone noted that the Spirit have hosted two major semifinals on Buzzard Point in the last two years, which in her view will help set the organization up to embrace another challenge to close out the year.

"Listen, we've had two years of dress rehearsals," emphasized Stone. "We've been there, we know what they expect... We've seen the NWSL grow this [event] over the last two years.

"When I went to Kansas [City] and then went to San Jose, in that one year, the activities and the quality of the productions around those activities really went up. They added the awards show last year, so hats off to the NWSL for continuing to raise the bar, and so I'm really happy that they believed in us."

During the press conference confirming the news, Stone emphasized that the Spirit had proven that, between the club itself and its fanbase, a big event at Audi Field can redefine what a league showcase can look and feel like.

"We have big ambitions," explained Stone. "It's not business as usual by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it's excited the players, that there is this opportunity to actually...we've always ridden the playoffs atmosphere in quarterfinals semifinals to a new height. And so I think, knowing that we would have that opportunity to do it again...I just say my motto is, third time's a charm."

Stone noted that the while the Spirit will be heavily involved in the event as a whole, the NWSL will control ticket inventory. With tickets going on sale well before the end of the semifinals later this year, there are no guarantees that a home final would include a normal Spirit vibe, which would include the Spirit Squadron directly behind Audi Field's north goal.

Still, Stone expressed optimism on that front, noting that the league is well aware of the atmosphere local fans have created.

"They respect our fans, and I think they'll make an effort for that," Stone told Green Line Soccer when asked about what can be done to get the Spirit's loudest fans into their normal spot. "We've already talked to them about doing a presale for our fans, so they will get one of the first opportunities to buy the tickets."

"I'm super excited," concluded Stone. "This is what you want, this is what you live for. It's these situations, an opportunity to take a showcase event and take it to the next level... We'll be ready, there's no doubt. The team that I have is ready for something like this, and they're ready to prove what we can do and what we can show."