New Year’s Eve in Times Square is the only place in New York City where it’s possible to celebrate with an estimated 1 million people without encountering any actual New Yorkers.
But as the calendar turns to 2024, Times Square revelers will get to pay homage to some of The Big Apple’s most beloved athletes as Ali Krieger will be joining Gotham FC teammates Kelley O’Hara and Midge Purce for the countdown to 2024.
All eyes will be on Krieger and her teammates when the clock strikes 11:59 as the trio has the honor of pushing the button to start the famous ball drop atop the flagpole at One Times Square.
In defeating Megan Rapinoe and the OL Reign to win the NWSL Championship, Krieger and her teammates authored one of the greatest moments that any New Yorker experienced in 2023. So it’s only fitting that the city’s focus will be on them during this year’s final minute.
Thanks to Krieger’s participation, viewers around the nation will be able to see LGBTQ representation on NYE broadcasts other than the Andy Cohen/Anderson Cooper drunken gabfest.
And unlike the CNN hosts, chances are at the end of the night that Krieger’s liver will be in better shape than the streets of Times Square.
2023 was a year of extreme highs and lows for Krieger. It was her final season as a pro soccer player and she walked off into the sunset holding the NWSL trophy and preparing to be fitted for a championship ring.
Throughout the fall, however, she competed as her marriage to USWNT teammate Ashlyn Harris was ending and Krieger filed for divorce in October. By all appearances, the two have put in an effort to maintain an amicable separation.
Now that she’s beginning a new chapter in her personal and professional life, it will be great to see Krieger get one more public celebration for all that she has accomplished.
As Just Women’s Sports’ Emma Hruby reported, Countdown Entertainment President Jeff Straus enthused about celebrating Gotham FC’s accomplishments at the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the country.
“The team serves as an inspiration for hard work and perseverance and their positivity and energy will carry with us into 2024,” Straus said.
Let’s hope that’s the case. Anyone who’s able to bring positivity into 2024 is doing the entire country a service.