The 16th NWSL team in Denver will kick off its 2028 season in a home of its own design, with the incoming expansion club announcing plans for a new 14,500-seat, purpose-built stadium on Tuesday.
"This will be the largest overall investment in a women’s professional sports team in history," said controlling owner Rob Cohen in a team release. "It will provide our club, our fans, our partners, and our community with a state-of-the-art stadium that will provide us a distinct home-field advantage and will serve as the most inclusive environment in all of Colorado."
The team — set to debut in 2026 — will play its first two seasons in a temporary venue while the new stadium remains under construction.
Positioned inside Denver city limits at Santa Fe Yards, the stadium complex will include a 3.5-acre park and mixed-use development, all accessible via the Broadway Light Rail station.
The blueprints also incorporate the ability to expand beyond the stadium’s initial 14,500 seats, with the team interested in eventually extending the capacity closer to 20,000 fans.
"This announcement is a game-changer for the NWSL and a bold statement about where women’s sports are headed," said league commissioner Jessica Berman. "Santa Fe Yards will set a new standard for what professional athletes deserve.
"Denver is helping to shape the future of women’s soccer, and we can’t wait to see the impact this world-class venue will have on players, fans, and the community."
Denver joins other NWSL clubs pursuing custom stadiums
Denver’s stadium project follows in the footsteps of Kansas City’s first-ever purpose-built NWSL stadium, which opened its doors alongside the Current's 2024 NWSL season opener.
Meanwhile, fellow 2026 expansion side Boston is in a stadium race of their own, with the club currently in an ongoing struggle to redevelop White Stadium using both public and private funds.
Boston is currently defending the redevelopment in court, as both local political tensions and renovation costs continue to rise.
While Denver has yet to confirm its funding sources, Cohen told ESPN that "it is the ownership group’s intent that we will pay for and build the stadium."
Soccer-specific stadiums in the US come at a premium, but Denver’s immediate large-scale investment showcases just how far prospective teams are willing to go for a seat at the NWSL table.
As of Tuesday, the NWSL is reportedly in exclusive talks to make Denver the home of the league's 16th team, with the Colorado city beating out bids from Cincinnati and Cleveland, the other two finalists previously announced by the league.
While the NWSL has yet to offer any details or timeline or even confirm the move, if true, Denver will join fellow expansion franchise Boston in making a 2026 season debut.
Led by IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen, who will function as the team's control owner, the Denver NWSL bid group intends to build a soccer-specific stadium for their club. But with the runway to 2026 shortening, the group intends to secure temporary facilities while planning, designing, and constructing a permanent home.
NWSL growth leads to ballooning expansion fees
The growing league is also expected to claim a record expansion fee from its 16th team, with insiders reporting that Denver's buy-in will likely come at a $105 million to $120 million price-tag.
That sum doubles the $53 million fees that 2024 expansion team Bay FC and the incoming Boston franchise shelled out in the last round of NWSL bids from new markets.
The swelling of expansion fees also mirrors the league's exploding valuations in recent years. According to Sportico, the average NWSL club is now worth $104 million, an increase of 57% over the 2023 average. Plus, this fall's sales of both Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave saw the clubs garner purchase prices of $250 million and $113 million, respectively.
Though further expansion is not currently on the books, the NWSL's increasing value and the additional markets hungry to enter the league signal that, sooner or later, even more cities will boast NWSL clubs of their own.
Prior to Saturday's 2024 NWSL Championship game, commissioner Jessica Berman updated the media on the league's 2026 expansion plan.
With Boston already set to field the league's 15th team when the 2026 season kick off, the NWSL spent much of 2024 whittling applicant cities down to three finalists, with either Denver, Cleveland, or Cincinnati to be awarded the league's 16th franchise.
Clark joins Cincinnati expansion group
One of the final trio of markets added a big name to their roster last week, with Cincinnati confirming that 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark has bought into the ownership group vying to bring the NWSL to southwest Ohio.
"Her passion for the sport, commitment to elevating women’s sports in and around the Greater Cincinnati region, and influence as an athlete and role model for women and girls around the world make her a vital part of our compelling bid to become the 16th team in the NWSL," the group said of its latest investor.
Ohio cities lead 2026 NWSL expansion bids
Besides their new superstar investor, Cincinnati has a leg up on the competition due to the city's existing soccer infrastructure. With MLS team FC Cincinnati's ownership leading the bid for an NWSL team, the market has both soccer ownership experience and a stadium built for the sport, all ready to welcome a women's club.
Meanwhile, the ownership groups in Cleveland and Denver both aim to construct soccer stadiums while their team would initially compete in temporary venues.
Of the two, Cleveland likely has the best shot at challenging fellow Ohio city Cincinnati. The state's northeast stronghold has already procured prime downtown land with the intention of breaking ground on an NWSL stadium.
Whichever market ultimately snags the league's 16th team must prepare to ante up top dollar, as the next expansion fee could near $100 million. Boston, along with 2024 expansion club Bay FC, both cut $53 million checks to enter the league, and the NWSL has continued to see soaring valuations since the pair's 2023 invitations.
Set to take the pitch as the NWSL's 15th franchise in 2026, Boston's expansion team unveiled their official branding and promotional materials to markedly mixed reviews on Tuesday.
The team name, BOS Nation FC, is an anagram of Bostonian, a nickname the team describes as "worn proudly by millions across 23 neighborhoods and 48.4 square miles."
The city's previous pro women's soccer team, the Boston Breakers, played in the folded WUSA and WPS before competing in the NWSL from 2013 through 2017. Boston was officially awarded an NWSL expansion team in September 2023.
"Too Many Balls" campaign spurs backlash from NWSL players and fans
While enthusiasm for NWSL expansion continues, the team's "Too Many Balls" campaign drew wide criticism from fans and players alike. Many took to social media to post their concerns about the slogan's exclusionary gender-focused undertones, as well as the message's erasure of other Boston-based women's sports teams.
"As a Massachusetts native, I really want @NWSLBoston to succeed. I also want to shout out @PWHL_Boston, @BeantownRFC, and @GoRenegades as existing women's pro sports teams here to support!" posted former USWNT star Sam Mewis in response.
"The town and the players who will represent them deserve so much more," NWSL Players Association director Meghann Burke told The Athletic. "With the work that has gone into laying a strong foundation for Boston’s 2026 launch, I honestly did not perceive this team to be so unserious."
The overwhelming criticism was apparently unanticipated by the new franchise, as the team's branding release included a statement from Jennifer Epstein, the controlling owner of BOS Nation FC and a minority owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics.
"This is an important moment for women's sports in Boston — and for Bostonians to see that they are fully represented in the team name, brand identity, and even in the tongue-in-cheek tone of the unveil campaign," Epstein said in the release.
Boston team acknowledges campaign missteps
The swift critiques prompted the incoming franchise to release a statement of apology on Wednesday.
Acknowledging that the campaign "missed the mark," the team apologized to the LGBTQ+ community and, more specifically, the trans community "for the hurt we caused."
"Thank you to all who have held us accountable by calling for us to do better," the statement continued. "We hear you and we will, together."
In addition to the apology, the club removed their "Too Many Balls" campaign and merchandise from their website, as well as deleted it from most social media channels.