Bay Area scores another major soccer event with 2025 NWSL championship at PayPal Park
PayPal Park, Bay FC's home stadium in San Jose, will host the 2025 NWSL championship game on Nov. 22, the league announced on Friday morning.
The league's championship contest was held at Kansas City's women's soccer-specific CPKC Stadium last season and Audi Field in Washington, D.C., the season prior. Bay FC have played home games at PayPal Park the past two seasons and have three years left on a lease with the San Jose Earthquakes-owned stadium.
The playoffs will begin the weekend of Nov. 7-9, with the semifinal round set for the following week, Nov. 14-16.
'The NWSL Championship brings another top soccer event to the Bay Area in 2025 and is an indicator of how impactful the Bay Area is in the global soccer landscape, the tremendous support of the game across the region and the widespread passion shown by fans for women's sports,' Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart said in a news release. 'We're looking forward to putting on a top-tier event for fans of both Bay Area soccer and the NWSL.'
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The Bay Area is the site of several significant soccer events in the next year-plus. The 18,000-seat PayPal Park is scheduled to host four matches in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, including Sunday's contest between the U.S. men's national team and Trinidad and Tobago. Santa Clara's Levi Stadium will host six games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
PayPal Park has previously hosted the NCAA College Cup, most recently in 2019, but has never hosted an NWSL postseason contest.
'We're thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with as rich a history in women's soccer as the Bay Area,' NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement. 'This community's passion for the game, combined with the excitement surrounding one of our newest teams in Bay FC, makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the league's top talent and crown our next champion.'
The top eight teams in the NWSL regular season will make the playoffs. Bay FC, who qualified for the first round in its expansion season a year ago, entered Friday tied for eighth place in the league with 15 games left to play. Two NWSL clubs – North Carolina in 2019 and Portland in 2018 – have played a championship game at their home field since the league went to a neutral site format in 2015.
The championship game will be played at 5 p.m. Pacific and air on CBS for the fourth consecutive season. Tickets will be available for purchase in August, and the league announced that Bay FC season-ticket holders will get early access.
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