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Big crowds greet 2022 NWSL playoffs

We saw record-setting crowds to launch the 2022 NWSL playoffs, with Houston Dash setting one new league playoff attendance record, only to see it broken later the same day by San Diego Wave.

Sunday began with KC Current visiting Houston Dash at PNC Stadium in Houston before a crowd of 21,284 fans. At the time that a record crowd for an NWSL playoff game, and a pretty impressive showing for a squad that drew 5,644 fans per match in the regular season. (The previous record: 21,144 fans at Providence Park for the 2018 Portland Thorns-NC Courage championship match.) KC Current won, 2-1.

The record didn’t stand very long, and was broken in the second match of the night when a crowd of 26,215 was on hand at Snapdragon Stadium for the first-round San Diego Wave-Chicago Red Stars game. A big crowd was not a surprise: San Diego set a new record for single-game attendance on Sept. 20 when 32,000 fans showed up for the team’s debut match at Snapdragon Stadium. It took overtime for the Wave to defeat the Red Stars and advance to a semifinal match against the Portland Thorns in Portland.

How long will this record stand? Potentially, until Sunday, October 23, when OL Reign hosts Kansas City Current at Lumen Field.

Photo courtesy Houston Dash.

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