USWNT returning to Louisville for October match at Lynn Family Stadium

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In what promises to be the biggest match in Lynn Family Stadium's short history, the United States Women's National Soccer Team is returning to Louisville for the first time in 20 years.

The U.S. Soccer Federation announced the news Monday morning, stating the four-time World Cup champions will visit for an October 30 match vs. Argentina. It will be nationally televised on TNT, truTV and Universo while also being streamed on Max and Peacock. 

This will be the fifth time the city of Louisville has welcomed the women's national team, with the other four matches being played at Cardinal Stadium from 1999-2004. Racing Louisville FC general manager Ryan Dell worked for the USWNT for nine-plus years before becoming Racing's first general manager. 

“Racing Louisville is thrilled to welcome U.S. Soccer and the Women’s National Team back to Louisville for the first time in two decades,” Dell said. “As I came to Racing from U.S. Soccer, this team and these players have a special place in my heart, and I know everyone is looking forward to sharing our world-class facilities and Kentucky hospitality with both teams for this unique international match at Lynn Family Stadium.”

The previous four Louisville USWNT matches saw the Americans beat Brazil 4-2 (1999), Costa Rica 8-0 (2000), Canada 4-1 (2000) and draw Japan 1-1 (2004). The Costa Rica and Canada matches were part of the 2000 Women's Gold Cup while 2004 was a friendly and 1999 was a U.S. Women's Cup match. 

This return though will be a birth of something for modern Louisville soccer: The women will become the first U.S. national team to play a match at Lynn Family Stadium, which opened in 2020. 

"We have great restaurants, drinking establishments and hospitality," Dell said. "I think that's what we want to showcase: When the U.S. national team steps off, they're greeted by incredible hospitality and great facilities that are world class."

“We’re truly honored to host the U.S. Women’s National Team,” Racing and LouCity president James O'Connor said. “This is yet another testament to the strong support for professional soccer in Louisville as well as continued investment by our ownership group to build strong teams and top facilities."

Dell said a match like this has been a goal of his ever since taking over as Racing's first general manager. He estimated the work surrounding this event started in November of 2023.

"It wasn't easy," Dell said. "They did want to play in an NFL stadium. But to us, it was talking about the facilities that we have from a training environment and from a stadium environment. And I think that's so important to show that we can continue to grow soccer outside of just the standard market.

"That was a big selling point: How can we continue to grow in an NWSL market who has invested in a top professional sports team in women's soccer in this country? And how can we continue to grow it?

"I think coming here is a testament of U.S. Soccer to show that they want to continue to grow soccer not only in big markets, but also in other regions that are untapped."

This announcement comes shortly after Louisville City Football Club, which shares an ownership group with Racing as well as the accompanying facilities, just hosted its first-ever friendly against a top-tier European men's club in Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt from the Bundesliga. Lynn Family Stadium has already seen women's clubs from around the globe come to play and will continue to do so this week with another edition of The Women's Cup.

"For us as a community, to be able to host a game like this is is phenomenal," O'Connor said. "I think when you look at what the organization is doing to try to build the international scene, I think it's huge. But to host the U.S. Women's National Team is is the pinnacle. For us, this is a huge event."

O'Connor gave full credit to Dell for making it all come together. Louisville's general manager added he felt full support from Soccer Holdings and applauded the ownership group's investment to get this deal done. 

"They want to be at the forefront of international football and I think that's so important," Dell said. "I think having a top-tier professional women's sports team here is important.

"What LouCity has done in the USL has helped. I think trying to continue to grow these relationships with the (Louisville) Sports Commission, with the mayor's office and with Governor Beshear, all of those things that we're doing to try and entice these events to come to Louisville, speaks volumes to the growth of what's an exciting city."

It could also help more with Racing's growth as a club. First, this will be an opportunity for a women's soccer match to be responsible for the first-ever sellout in Lynn Family Stadium's short history. Dell said the stadium will add some temporary seating to accommodate a larger crowd as well.

But this also is an opportunity for prominent NWSL players, many of whom play for the USWNT, to see what Louisville has to offer as a pro destination.

"I want them to see our training facility," Dell said. "I want them to see our locker room. I want them to experience what Louisville has to offer. And I think that's all pieces of what Racing is building and how we continue to grow on it."

Multiple Racing players have ties to the national team. The most recent is Savannah DeMelo, who got the call for last year's World Cup, when she became the first American since 2003 to be placed on the USWNT roster without any prior national team appearances. 

Standout midfielder Taylor Flint and Jaelin Howell also have previous national team experience, as well as outside back Carson Pickett.  

Ticket pre-sales will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 6 and end on Friday, Aug. 9 at 8 a.m. The public sale opens at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 9.

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