(Reuters) – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced on Tuesday it was expanding to add a new franchise in Louisville, Kentucky, amid increasing support for the women’s game in the United States.

The team will begin playing in the 2021 season against the NWSL’s existing nine teams inside Lynn Family Stadium, a nearly 14,000-seat stadium expected to open next year.

The announcement comes less than a week before the NWSL championship game in Cary, North Carolina, and amid growing passion for the sport in America. The U.S. women’s national soccer team clinched their second back-to-back World Cup title this summer.

The league saw average attendance of more than 7,300 during the 2019 season, up from roughly 4,000 in 2014.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Paul Tait)