The 17,000-seat college soccer stadium sits on the campus of the UC Santa Barbara. The venue required approval from the USWNT Players Association since it is not a pre-approved venue listed in the team's collective bargaining agreement.
Only one other USWNT game has previously been played north of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the first for the area known as the "Central Coast."
"One of the goals of U.S. Soccer is to take our national teams to new markets around the country, and I applaud that," USWNT head coach Emma Hayes said. "Playing in a city for the first time is not a common occurrence at this point in our history so I know our players will enjoy being in beautiful Santa Barbara and our staff are really looking forward to January camp and these matches against two tough South American countries.
"This is the start of an important year for our team and as always, we're focused on maximizing every minute we get with the players."
Three days before the game against Chile, the USWNT will play Paraguay at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, a frequent host venue just outside LA and home of MLS' LA Galaxy.
The USWNT will hold a training camp in Carson from Jan. 17-27. It will likely consist entirely of domestic players since it is outside of an official FIFA window.
Harder Stadium is an iconic even if (for professional standards) somewhat dated college venue.
UC Santa Barbara's men's soccer team traditionally draws strong fan support and won the national championship in 2006. The stadium hosted the NCAA Men's College Cup in 2010 and in 2018.
The venue is supposed to undergo renovations to host a new USL Championship men's team, the Santa Barbara Sky, to meet professional standards for the men's second division.
The launch of that team, however, continues to be delayed.
USWNT Players Association approval for the smaller, less modern venue is not unprecedented. It was also required for the team's October friendly at CPKC Stadium, which only seats 11,500 fans and falls below the 15,000-seat requirement.
The USWNT played two unofficial exhibition matches at Harder Stadium in 1991 prior to the inaugural Women's World Cup, according to U.S. Soccer.
The USWNT defeated UCSB women's soccer team and a southern California all-star team on back-to-back days in October 1991. The USWNT held training camps in Santa Barbara in 2019 and 2023.
The USMNT has played one international match at Harder Stadium, a 1-1 draw against Romania in 1993 ahead of the home World Cup the following year.
Chile, the USWNT's opponent for the game, is ranked No. 45 in the world and fifth in South America.
Next month will mark just the fourth meeting between Chile and the USWNT.
They last played each other in the group stage of the 2019 World Cup in Paris, where the USWNT won 3-0 on its way to a second straight World Cup title.
