NWSL final to be in Houston

The biggest event in the NWSL is headed to Houston

Just before the opening of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League season, commissioner Jeff Plush joined Houston Dash president Chris Canetti in Houston for a special announcement in a press conference that was live streamed on their Facebook live streaming account. What big news did the commish have? The NWSL final is to be played at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Buy your tickets, book your flight, and make hotel reservations. The game is set for October 9 and will be aired on Fox Sports 1. Last year’s game was hosted by the Portland Thorns FC where FC Kansas City took the championship for back-to-back titles. FCKC had a 1-0 win over the Seattle Reign for the second year in a row.

When asked why Plush chose Houston, his answer was simple: “BBVA is a fantastic soccer venue, we enjoy coming down here… Houston is ready for it.” Last season, the championship venue wasn’t announced until late in the season and this year Plush wanted to get a jump on announcing it since “[soccer] is the biggest, most important sport in the world.”

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The early announcement and weekend date comes as perfect news for the fans who can make plans to attend the game in advance. This comes as huge news for Houston who just hosted the NCAA basketball’s Final Four Tournament. Houston has one of the biggest support systems in the community for women’s soccer and can play host to over 22,000 fans who want to make the game.

Both Plush and Canetti seem to believe that choosing Houston is definitely a perfect fit for the NWSL final. Fans and the organization are pretty excited about it, too!

“The city of Houston is a fantastic market for big events and has a strong history of always supporting them,” Plush said during the press conference in regards to the announcement. “Our organization is fully committed to the success and growth of women’s professional soccer,” Canetti added. “Hosting this event is another opportunity for us to display that. We are most pleased to bring this opportunity to our fans and community.”

Plush also mentioned the ongoing partnership between the Dash and Nike saying that this will be used to create excitement within the community as October approaches. Plush plans to host youth training camps in Houston along with other community outreach events to not only inform the community of the championship match that is coming to their city, but to get them excited about it as well.

Before the press conference closed out, they took a moment to recognize the passing of long-time Houston Dynamo and Dash supporter, 2015 fan of the year, and excellent journalist Leo Ponce Jr. Ponce was an active part of the Dynamo and Dash community.

Related Story: NWSL opening weekend preview

The Dash opened up the 2016 NWSL season with a huge three-point victory over the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday night after answering the Red Stars’ early goal with three unanswered goals of their own in front of a home crowd of 7,440.

With the finals being hosted in their home stadium this season, it’s likely that there will be more of an incentive to play as hard as they can to make it not only to playoffs, but to the championship match. Houston finished fifth in the standings during the 2015 season just barely missing the NWSL playoffs.