The USWNT for the “first time in nearly a decade” will “play a competitive match in the state of Washington” on Tuesday night when it faces Japan at Lumen Field, according to Tim Booth of the SEATTLE TIMES. There is “expected to be a record crowd” for the stand-alone match, with U.S. Soccer announcing Monday that “more than 35,000 tickets have been sold.” The previous record was 34,130 for former soccer player Megan Rapinoe’s farewell match in 2023. Lumen Field currently being covered in grass is the “reason why” the match is happening. U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said, “While you can install grass, of course, on Lumen Field generally the number of days required to install the grass, have it be in good quality, usually means a facility has to be offline for a longer period of time, and that usually is hard when the venue that is used by a whole bunch of different teams.” When the USWNT’s players union reached a landmark CBA with U.S. Soccer in 2022, it “mandated that matches only be played on grass fields.” So it took until now for an opportunity to be presented that would “allow a game to be played in Seattle.” Work for the match “began in late February” after the Sounders played their first MLS match of the season on the regular artificial surface of the stadium (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/14).
New grass at Lumen Field reason for USWNT’s long-awaited return
