The first-ever Sports Illustrated Women's Games are coming to San Diego County, bringing the world's top female athletes to the FrontWave Arena in Oceanside. The competition between Team America and Team World will take over primetime this October through a partnership between Scripps Sports and Sports Illustrated.
This event arrives amid an explosion of popularity for professional women's sports across the nation. In San Diego, the Mojo premiered in 2024, bringing women's professional volleyball to the Viejas Arena. The team was recently announced as a founding member of the new Professional Women's Volleyball League - MLV.
The San Diego Wave FC has also brought the love of women's soccer to thousands of new fans since their debut in 2022.
Sitting at fourth place, the Wave are riding high after missing last year's playoffs.
"I think the greatest thing about this league is that it's never consistent of who's going to be a front runner, and we want to be that one this year," a team representative said.
Helping them get to the top of the league is the 12th man, the fans.
"It's going to games like playing Snapdragon and seeing how many people are coming to games, but then it's also seeing how many people are talking about the Wave outside of the stadium. Which is really exciting," a player said.
That buzz has only grown over the years. By the end of their inaugural season in 2022, the Wave moved to their new home at Snapdragon Stadium, and in that first game, they broke the NWSL's attendance record at the time. 32,000 fans packed the stadium to see these world-class athletes take the pitch.
"You see all the little girls walking around, even men too, boys too. For all, and it really is inclusive. It's a great thing to be a part of," a fan said.
Since then, the team has led the league in attendance for both 2023 and 2024.
"It's been incredible to see the growth of the league and also just how many people are playing the sport, how many people are watching the sport," a player noted.
The team's success is part of a larger boom we're seeing in women's soccer. Last season, the NWSL's total attendance eclipsed 2 million for the first time in league history and averaged over 11,000 fans a game.
"There's been pioneers in the sport and they've taken the game over the last 20 years and really just pushed for equality," a team member said.
The support from fans has helped lead to a boom in business as well. Last winter, the Wave was sold for $113 million, the second highest sale in league history. According to Forbes, they're currently the 4th highest valued team in the league at $165 million.
While players are excited to see the league grow, they say there's still more work to be done.
"Matching the same level as the men as far as salary goes, as far as resources go, and that's just gonna take more and more investment in realizing that women's soccer and women's sports in general isn't a charity. It's a great business opportunity," a player said.
Pre-sale tickets for the SI Women's Games were made available to our community starting on Thursday, Aug. 14; the pre-sale period ends at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Below, you'll find links to the tickets for each event. Select "more info" in the pre-sales box and insert code "ABC10" to gain access:
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
