If you haven’t turned on a Washington Spirit game this season … first, what are you doing? Second, flip on the Saturday’s National Women’s Soccer League championship match, the one pitting the Spirit against Gotham FC, wait for the 51st minute and listen. Not to the announcers. To the crowd.
It won’t be like Audi Field in the District. But the Spirit fans who travel to San Jose – and there are more than a few – surely will begin their chant: “Free D.C.! Free D.C.!” It began as a statement. It is now a tradition.
“That caught on immediately,” said Meredith Bartley, the president of the supporters group Spirit Squadron. “It was really amazing, actually. It went all the way around the stadium that first game and has only grown from there. It’s one of the loudest organized chants at Audi – and that’s saying something.”
What we have here is a soccer team that has put behind a troubled past — games in far-flung locales, a coach ousted amid harassment allegations, an owner similarly pushed aside for nefarious reasons — and has become the standard-bearer for professional sports in Washington. In the NWSL title game for the second straight year, the Spirit is littered with stars. Tara McKeown was just named the league’s defender of the year. Midfielder Croix Bethune is ascendant, a second-team all-league performer after being the rookie of the year. Striker Trinity Rodman needs no introduction on a global stage. Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury is an absolute spine.
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But what we also have is a club that recognizes how its fans feel not just about the players, but about the city around them. The Wizards, Mystics, Capitals, Nationals and D.C. United all call the District home. By the end of the decade, so might the Commanders. No pro franchise in town has leaned into the District, its residents and the issues they care about the way the Spirit has. It’s a beautiful combination of organic and intentional.
“We are all about the idea that everybody is welcome at the Spirit game,” club CEO Kim Stone said. “The community has been there for us. So we need to be there for them.”
Let’s be honest: This has been a rough year to live within the District’s borders. Since the summer, troops from the National Guard have roamed the streets, mostly picking up trash and chatting with each other, an armed, ominous presence nonetheless. In the early part of the year, DOGE downsized the government to the point in which a few hundred thousand career civil servants, many of them in and around Washington, were left without jobs. A just-ended government shutdown lasted more than a month and furloughed more people in the District, breeding uncertainty and unease.
The Spirit – from corporate leadership to the players – noticed it all.
“We love this city so much,” said center back Esme Morgan following last week’s semifinal win over Portland. “And we feel the passion that the people from the DMV have for this place and for this team that represents them. And so, obviously, it’s been a difficult year for the area. So much has happened, and I feel like we feel a responsibility as the Spirit to bring joy to people and be an event that people can look forward to. It does feel like such a community.”
The “Free D.C.!” chant is one element. (Psssst. It’s not an accident that it occurs in the 51st minute.) But there are so many others. When federal troops moved into the District in August, citizens were obviously rattled. It was the latest manifestation of an issues that dogs this town.
“All of this is happening because we lack statehood,” Bartley said.
Indeed. One team in town stood up and noticed. The Spirit issued a “Love Letter to D.C.,” and had Bethune read it over a montage of the city and the team on social media.
“We play for you because you are more than our home,” Bethune read, in part. “You are our inspiration.”
Different Roots. Same Home. One Spirit
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— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) August 15, 2025
“Our fans were upset that D.C. was being conveyed in a certain way,” Stone said. “We love our city. We just thought it was important in that moment to say we love them, we stand with them and we support them.
“That took off in a way I never expected. Which is great. It shows you how much people were hurting over the situation.”
The relationship between fan base and team continued to flourish in ways that mattered. When the shutdown began, the club gave away tickets to furloughed workers and the Spirit Squadron found people willing to pay club dues for those who couldn’t. When Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits dried up, the Spirit held a food drive.
Now, to be clear, there’s something of a dance here.
“I have to be very direct: We are apolitical,” Stone said. “… We are not against anybody or for anybody. We are just for everybody.”
Uh, well. That’s not how everyone sees it. Nor should they.
“Look around at the fans,” Bartley said. “This is so political. This is resistance. This is people you don’t think of as sports fans screaming their heads off — and feeling safe to do so.
“I understand [Stone] has to thread a needle. The team, for all that it’s doing and doing well, it is corporate. It’s sanitized in many ways. And that’s what has been so cool about the players really embracing it, because that’s organic.”
A MASSIVE thank you to our incredible Spirit family! You turned Audi Field into an absolute fortress
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— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) November 16, 2025
Yes, the Spirit trains in Leesburg, Virginia, and has its corporate headquarters in nearby Ashburn. Still, players warmed up in “I Heart DC” T-shirts in August. Some have donned “Free D.C.” T-shirts after games. Spirit players regularly share their post-goal or postgame celebrations with fans.
“You feel the love from the stands when you are on the pitch,” Morgan said, “and we try to throw that back out with the heart that we play with, with our celebrations, with engaging with the fans. And yeah, we’re so grateful for the support, because there’s no other atmosphere like this in the league. It’s the best, by far.”
What happens Saturday night in San Jose against Gotham will determine whether Washington has a championship team again or not. What happened between the Spirit and its supporters over the past few months shows that the District has a team in tune with its town. Hard to say which matters more.
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