Women’s soccer games are way cheaper than men’s, so cheer them on

By Cara Smith | NerdWallet

The 2023 Women’s World Cup may be wrapping up in a few weeks, but there’s still plenty of soccer to enjoy in the U.S. throughout the fall.

If you’re looking for cost-effective entertainment, attending a soccer match can be an affordable blast, offering the bright lights, concessions and high-octane moments you’d expect from other major league sporting events, often at a lower cost. That’s the case for both men’s and women’s games — but you could probably guess which ones are cheaper.

Men’s soccer games typically cost more than twice as much as women’s

On the resale markets, men’s soccer tickets are always pricier than women’s tickets. Like, a lot pricier.

First, a primer. The U.S. has two professional soccer leagues: the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the Major League Soccer (MLS), which is the U.S. league for men’s soccer.

To get a broad sense of what fans can expect to spend on MLS or NWSL tickets, consider data from SeatGeek, a ticket resale marketplace that has calculated average ticket costs for teams’ events.

Among tickets listed for resale on SeatGeek, MLS tickets cost an average of $50, while NWSL tickets cost an average of $23. Put another way: On SeatGeek, women’s soccer tickets cost less than half the price for a ticket to a men’s game.

And city to city, the gulfs between ticket costs range dramatically.

The starkest discrepancy is in Houston, where Houston Dash NWSL tickets average $15, and Houston Dynamo MLS tickets average $45 — three times as much.

Tickets to men’s and women’s games are the most closely priced in Washington, DC., with tickets to the Washington Spirit NWSL matches averaging $29, and those of the D.C. United MLS team, at $42, per SeatGeek.

The value of attending a women’s soccer game

So yes, across the board, tickets to NWSL matches are significantly cheaper than tickets to MLS matches — a disappointing byproduct of systemic discrimination in sports, but an excellent reason to put your entertainment dollars toward women’s soccer games.

And chances are, your local women’s team has some of the best professional soccer players on the planet. That’s because NWSL players also make up the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) — you know, arguably the best women’s soccer team in the world.