The North Carolina Courage have been a formidable squad since their debut back in 2017, after a transfer of assets when the Western New York Flash team folded. The team kicked off its first year by having the best regular-season record in the league before losing in the championship match. But the Courage followed that inaugural season with back-to-back NWSL championship wins, and have finished most seasons ever since near the top of the rankings. North Carolina is also a hotbed of soccer talent — the UNC Tar Heels have been crowned NCAA Women’s Soccer D1 champions over 20 times in the past 40 years.
Since their debut, the Courage’s home has been WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb about 15 minutes outside of Raleigh.
When the NWSL first launched in 2013, most teams played at venues one step above an average American high school’s soccer field. Thankfully, teams, crowds, and revenue grew so much that 13 of the 14 NWSL teams currently play in large stadiums that can handle well over 10,000 fans. But WakeMed Soccer Park is a throwback to those early days; the venue feels like every NCAA soccer field we’ve visited.
To be brutally honest, this stadium doesn't quite feel like a serious place worthy of a national championship-winning professional soccer team.
Hopefully in the next few years, the NC Courage can find or build a soccer stadium that better supports the fans and their team at a level seen across the rest of the league.
Stadium information
WakeMed Soccer Park’s main stadium has a maximum capacity around 10,000, and most home games typically attracted 5,000 to 8,000 fans in the 2024 regular-season. As we said, it’s a throwback to an earlier time in the league and that means this “stadium” is mostly a collection of flat, metal bleachers. There is almost no shade or protection from the elements to be found since there are no walls or structures to enclose it. And given it’s mostly metal bleachers for seats, there isn’t much height to the stadium so watching plays on the opposite side of the field is difficult.
Where to sit
There aren’t a lot of great seating options at WakeMed, but we found the best options are located on the western side, in sections 105 and 106. The only real structure around the pitch are the suites located above those sections and they provide a bit of shade from the afternoon sun. Those sections also have plastic seats instead of the metal bleachers found in most of the park, but the seats are priced to match, running about $70 each when most tickets are around $20 to $30.
Section 105 and 106 are the only areas with a bit of shade during hot and humid summers
When it rains, given that there’s no real roof structure, there’s nowhere to hide, so plan on getting wet. Also, any seats on the eastern and southern sides of the pitch will likely be in full sun at daytime matches, with no relief to be found.
The match we attended on a June weekend afternoon was during a particularly brutal heat wave with temps in the 95ºF (35ºC) range, so we were thankful for the bit of shade in our one section, but we felt bad for the rest of the stadium sitting in full sun.
- Sections 105 and 106 on the western side are the best seats in the house — they have the only shade structure (from the suites above) and plastic seats instead of metal bleachers
- Western-side tickets run about $70 vs. $20–30 elsewhere — worth it in hot weather, since most of the stadium is flat metal bleachers with zero sun protection
- The low, flat bleacher design makes it hard to follow plays on the far side of the pitch
- Accessibility is limited: eastern side requires stairs, and accessible seating sits at field level with compromised sightlines — the team recommends calling before games for the best options
What to eat and drink
The stadium’s small size means that there are only a handful of concession options at the western and eastern sides of the concourse area, mostly serving up standard stadium fare like hot dogs, burgers, and beers. The team announced that it’s opening a Chick-fil-A stand, but it wasn’t yet available at our match, and hopefully will never be.
We found that the best food options with the widest variety were in the pre-game parking lot fan zone area, where four food trucks offered up a range of cuisine. We enjoyed Asian options like gyoza and rice bowls before making our way to our seats.
Team merchandise, accessibility, restrooms, and pre-game activities
Team gear was available from a few temporary stands selling jerseys and T-shirts in the concourse areas and fan zone before the game. We don’t recall seeing any sort of brick-and-mortar store in our stroll around the park, though there is one marked on the stadium’s map.
Accessibility isn’t great at this park. The eastern side requires climbing stairs to reach the concourse area as well as stairs found between levels as you walk around the stadium. The accessible seating areas are at the bottom of the stands, near field level, giving not-so-great views of the action. The team’s own website suggests you call before games for the best advice on accessible options.
Restrooms were large and clean and offered good privacy, though at halftime the women’s restrooms had long lines, even though our match attendance was only around 5,000 fans.
There was a great fan zone in a closed parking area just outside the north side of the pitch, opening 90 minutes before a match and it included food trucks and drinks, sponsor booths, and giveaways. We happened to attend during 2024’s Pride Night and got free rainbow bucket hats, which was a cool bonus.
Pre-game, in-game, and post-game vibes
WakeMed Soccer Park is just one part of a 150-acre complex that has large parking areas spread across several lots. Fans are allowed to tailgate up to two and a half hours before a match, and once you walk inside the stadium, the fan zone provides a fun atmosphere with lots to see and do as well.
During the game, the crowd (especially the supporters section) was loud and enthusiastic despite the small numbers, and we enjoyed our time watching them play a tough match, eventually beating Chicago.
At WakeMed (much like attending an NCAA soccer match), at the end of each game, most players walked up into the bleachers to hang out with family, friends, and supporters.
After the match, the atmosphere was totally unique to the league. With other NWSL clubs playing in large stadiums, there’s an obvious physical separation between players and fans due to walls surrounding every other stadium’s pitch.
This level of informality was a surprise as fans could talk to players easily. We chatted up our favorite ex-Portland Thorns player on Chicago’s squad and told her how much we missed her. We said hi to Alyssa Naeher, the U.S. Women’s National Team’s former starting goalie. We realized that we could have gotten anything we wanted signed by almost any player after the game thanks to the casual nature of this kind of venue. So there are upsides to playing in the smallest stadium.
- Tailgating is allowed up to 2.5 hours before kickoff across the 150-acre complex's parking lots
- The pre-game fan zone opens 90 minutes early with food trucks, booths, giveaways, and a better spread of food than the stadium's concession stands
- Supporter sections are loud and enthusiastic despite the small crowd — the hometown vibe is serious even in a casual venue
- Post-game is genuinely unique in the league: you can chat up almost anyone and get practically anything signed, so bring what you want autographed
Getting there
Flying in
Raleigh, North Carolina’s airport is easy to reach from any city on the Eastern Seaboard via direct flights, though you’ll likely need connecting flights from the West Coast. The airport is about a 10- to 15-minute drive northwest of town, but it’s relatively easy to get into and out of.
Renting a car or going car-free
We saw little evidence of public transit in and around Raleigh. While the city does have a bus system covering the downtown area, WakeMed Park is several miles out of town in neighboring Cary, so you’ll almost certainly require a rental car when visiting the region. It might be possible to take an Uber or Lyft into town, to a game, and back, but we opted for a rental car to get around easily.
Driving in
The stadium is located several miles away from Raleigh and it’s easy to reach via a freeway and connecting roads, taking about 10 to 15 minutes from most hotels downtown. WakeMed Soccer Park is within a sprawling, 150-acre facility, so once you drive in, you’ll get to pick from a collection of parking areas. Thankfully, for 2024 and beyond, parking is included with the price of your tickets, so there’s no bottleneck when you enter as you’ll just follow volunteers pointing you to the nearest rows of open spots.
Once you’ve parked, there’s a wide, flat, dirt trail linking all the lots to the stadium and it took us several minutes to walk in from the outer lots. Even though it was unusual compared with other venues, we got to enjoy a pleasant stroll through the woods by following the trail, so it was actually quite nice.
Taking public transit
Raleigh’s regional bus system can take you from the center of downtown out to the park, but it’s about a 40- to 45-minute trip each way with many stops, and buses only run once every 30 to 60 minutes. You’ll probably want to opt for a rideshare instead, and save an hour from your round trip.
Where to stay
The town of Raleigh, North Carolina, is a popular destination for conventions and travel and has a great number of hotel options downtown to support tourism. For our trip, we stayed in a downtown neighborhood known as Glenwood South, which was a party-central kind of place loaded with bars that had drunken college students and sports fans spilling out of their doors at all hours of the night. Quieter neighborhoods and hotels can be found in the nearby Capital District, or farther out in posh neighborhoods such as the North Hills or Berkshire Village District.
What to do in Raleigh (besides watch soccer)
Downtown Raleigh is a gorgeous area with lots of great things to see and do. We spent several hours at the North Carolina Museum of History with friends, and learned a lot about how North Carolina was settled and how it has changed over the centuries. If our trip had cooler weather, we would have packed a couple of sandwiches for lunch and headed to the North Carolina Museum of Art to have a picnic in its sculpture park before checking out the art museum itself.
Raleigh was founded way back in the 1790s, so the architecture downtown (especially around the State Capitol and in the Oakwood neighborhood) is incredible and worth strolling around as you gaze up at restored Victorian homes. There are also hiking and biking trails worth checking out all around the city.
We had great food everywhere we went during our visit. We’d strongly suggest starting your trip with lunch at the Morgan Street Food Hall downtown. It was a large community space with eight to 10 cuisine options being sold from different small kitchens sprinkled around the building. We had amazing shrimp and grits along with chicken and waffles. If you don’t find something you love there, you can also check out the Transfer Co. Food Hall, which is also downtown. We like food halls because they’re more permanent than food trucks, but cheap enough to operate that chefs can test out new cuisine ideas before going full-scale in a restaurant.
Elsewhere in downtown, the food and drinks at Jolie, a French bistro, were top-shelf. As too were the Mexican seafood and drinks at Cortez. For breakfast or brunch, you can’t beat Poole’s as an upscale diner. Whiskey Kitchen is also a good gastropub worth checking out.
We spent the majority of our time in Raleigh hanging out with friends we’ve known for over 20 years, but hadn’t seen in almost 10. It was a great way to experience a new-to-us city, thanks to help from longtime residents who were effusive with suggestions as they led us around town.
- Morgan Street Food Hall is the best first-stop meal downtown — 8 to 10 small kitchens under one roof
- Transfer Co. Food Hall is the other strong option downtown if you want to sample more
- The Oakwood neighborhood and the area around the State Capitol have gorgeous restored Victorian architecture worth a wander
- The North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Art (with a picnic-friendly sculpture park) are both excellent
- Glenwood South is the downtown party district — loud, bar-packed, and college-student-heavy; the Capital District, North Hills, and Berkshire Village are quieter options
While WakeMed Soccer Park is the smallest venue with the fewest amenities in the league, it does have its perks, as getting to meet players up-close after a game was a real treat. It was our first trip to Raleigh and we really loved the slow, relaxed vibes, the great food, and the interesting history of this southern city.
There’s no doubt that the North Carolina Courage will always be one of the strongest teams in the NWSL and because Raleigh is a fun place to visit, we’d say it’s definitely worth making the trip to enjoy a weekend in that area while taking in a match at WakeMed Soccer Park.
