Illustration by Lorenzo Gordon. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Following a fairytale season that culminated in lifting the NWSL trophy in 2023, all eyes are on NJ/NY Gotham FC as they embark on their quest to repeat last season’s success.
Before the confetti even finished falling, Gotham’s front office was already looking ahead to 2024. General manager Yael Averbuch West anticipated adding some of the hottest players during free agency, taking advantage of a roster-building path that’s only recently become available to the league’s clubs and players.
The reigning champions made the NWSL offseason’s biggest splash by signing USWNT stars Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett in January, following the record-breaking transfer of world-champion Spanish striker Esther González in August.
Averbuch West and Gotham club governor Carolyn Tisch Blodgett believe the 2023 title and the aggressive moves that followed is just the beginning.
“We want to be a global brand, one of the best global sports franchises, period,” Tisch Blodgett said in a video call. “If you think about Manchester United, the Dallas Cowboys, or the New York Yankees, these brands transcend the sport they’re in. That’s my long-term vision.”
Tisch Blodgett acquired an LP stake in the franchise three days before Gotham completed its dramatic turnaround from worst-to-first last season. At her day job, she is the founder and CEO of Next 3, a strategic advisor to the Tisch Ownership Group of the New York Giants, which is backing the investment to Gotham FC.
Besides the Tisch family, Gotham has attracted an important roster of investors, including former Giants star quarterback Eli Manning and team executive Pete Guelli, Kevin Durant’s Thirty-Five Ventures, former USWNT and Gotham FC player Carli Lloyd, former WNBA star Sue Bird, veteran sports executives Kristin Bernert and Karen Bryant, and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy.
Still, the club’s rise to success had been slow. Founded in 2007 as Sky Blue FC, the franchise hadn’t won a title since 2009, back in the WPS days pre-NWSL. Despite being in a major media market and a league founding member, Gotham was only the NWSL’s ninth-most valuable team out of 12 in 2023 at $48 million, according to Sportico (The average NWSL team is worth $66 million).
Attendance-wise, the club ranked seventh last season with an average of 6,293 fans per game coming to 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. That lagged well behind recent California expansion teams Angel City FC and San Diego Wave, which both averaged more than 19,000 fans in their second season.
While Gotham has had the occasional attendance surge—a club record 15,058 fans came to see them take on fan favorite Alex Morgan and the Wave on Pride Night in 2023, while another 14,241 tickets were sold for their Challenge Cup match against San Diego last month—turning those peaks into more consistent crowd boosts is the next challenge for the club.
“There are difficulties in grabbing attention within the New York market, just given that it is the New York market,” said Matt Hochberg, the founder and CEO of Hochberg Sports Marketing, in a call. “With so many professional sports teams, the question becomes how to capture that attention and ensure that those folks who may be attending their first ever Gotham game will become lifelong fans.”
To that end, the influx of star power both on the field and among the ownership group should only help.
“Building a brand in women’s sports takes resources, and that’s something that Gotham has prioritized at this moment,” said Caroline Fitzgerald, the founder of GOALS, a women’s sports marketing consultancy and media platform. “Their business model is attracting investment, attracting owners with a financial stake who are putting resources into the team, and that’s really important.”
One of the best examples of that in the NWSL is Angel City.
The Los Angeles franchise made its season debut in 2022 after being announced in 2020 among a slew of celebrity investors. The club is already valued as the highest in the league, at $180 million, though it’s currently seeking a new owner. Angel City’s $31 million revenue in 2023 was six times that of Gotham’s. According to Fitzgerald, the secret sauce behind the success of Angel City comes from building a powerful organization. ACFC’s innovative approach to brand partnerships with a robust marketing and sponsorship team of over 40 people helped them book $35 million in sponsorship commitments over multiple years. “It’s great to see how Gotham is also investing in their infrastructure as an organization; I think that’s a crucial part of building a brand,” she said.
Besides making its free agent splash, Gotham also expanded its soccer operations management team. The club said it has doubled its season ticket holders in 2024 and that the retention rate of season ticket holders was up by more than 30% compared to the previous year. Another focus for the management has been building a home for Gotham at Red Bull Arena by creating a consistent pregame fan experience including a fan fest with food trucks, merchandise sales, face painting and a sign making station.
Gotham is one of two non-expansion NWSL teams that hasn’t seen its principal governor change in the last few years; the other is the North Carolina Courage. It is unclear whether Tisch Blodgett will take complete control of the club going forward, although she currently sits on the NWSL Board of Governors as the team’s governor.
One thing is clear: Tisch Blodgett and Averbuch West want to build something that will last.
“I don’t think I realized how many parallels there were between Peloton and Gotham,” Tisch Blodgett said. When I joined Peloton, it was a little-known startup.”
As the company’s CMO, Tisch Blodgett saw Peloton grow its membership from 30,000 to more than 2 million. “Like Peloton, Gotham FC has a passionate early consumer base that is incredibly strong and fiercely loyal. It’s our job to continue to serve those fans while also expanding to reach new audiences,” she said.
On Sunday, Gotham will have Manning, former club captain Ali Krieger and Peloton head instructor and VP of fitness programming Robin Arzón on hand at Red Bull to promote its regular-season home opener against the Kansas City Current. The club will raise its NWSL championship banner and hold a ring ceremony.
“We have a great product,” Tisch Blodgett said. “Now we go and create a great fan experience for Gotham fans around that product so they show up to our games and have a great experience so they come back and tell all their friends.”