National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Announces CPKC Stadium as Site of 2024 Championship

CPKC Stadium, the first football stadium built for a professional women’s team, will be the site of the 2024 National Women’s Football League Championship.

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman joined “CBS Mornings” to discuss why the historic stadium, which opened earlier this year and is home to the Kansas City Current, was chosen for this year’s championship game. Berman said it’s the first time there’s a facility built specifically for women, and the details of the 11,500-seat stadium were designed to remind people of that.

“When you walk into the building, Title IX is on the wall. It’s a constant reminder. The artists that are exhibited in the building are women artists, women chefs. But even more tactically, the restrooms are all unisex,” Berman said. “This building was just built with a different level of care and attention because it’s the home of a team of women.”

Berman also discussed the sport’s growth. Attendance at NWSL regular-season games surpassed 1 million fans for the third consecutive season, reaching that milestone “earlier in the season than ever before,” according to the NWSL.

“This is a movement, and the investment that’s coming into this league is unprecedented in history. So you look at it from an ownership perspective, from a sponsorship perspective, from a media perspective, having partners like you at CBS and our other partners who are bringing our games live on television and in prime time for as many people as possible to see. We have to ask ourselves that question and believe that this is a sustainable movement.”

According to the NWSL, national broadcast viewership is up 95% from the 2023 season. Berman attributes that to legendary players like Alex Morganwho was not selected for the 2024 Paris Olympics team, but who Berman credits with helping build the sport, along with others.

“I think everything we do today is built on the shoulders of the players who got us here. Alex is one of them, but even before Alex, we had icons of this game in the ’80s and ’90s who really laid the foundation to create the perception that when we think about greatness and football in this country, we actually think about women,” Berman said.

Berman said the focus now is on youth participation in football.

“We were the first league to welcome under-18 players into our league, and when I think about it, I think of my own 16-year-old child and imagine him competing on the field. It’s hard to imagine, but it’s an incredible moment.”

The NWSL championship game will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on November 23.