The Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League formally introduced on Thursday that Denver will be a part of the league as its sixteenth workforce in 2026.
“Because the NWSL continues its speedy development, we knew it was essential to launch our sixteenth workforce in a metropolis with a passionate sports activities tradition and vibrant fan base — and Denver is the right match,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman mentioned.
“The membership’s plans for a purpose-built stadium and state-of-the-art coaching facility reveal a dedication to offering world-class environments for our gamers and followers alike.”
Denver’s possession group, led by IMA Monetary chairman and CEO Rob Cohen, reportedly paid a league-record $110 million franchise price. Different traders embrace Challenge Degree, a gaggle led by Mellody Hobson and former Washington Commanders president Jason Wright, and FirstTracks Sports activities Ventures LLC.
Cohen would be the workforce’s controlling proprietor and Hobson will function alternate governor.
“Being across the sports activities world, I heard in regards to the grassroots effort round bringing a soccer workforce to Denver,” Cohen informed ESPN. “I met with that group and the extra I began to study what they had been pondering, what their imaginative and prescient was, set me on a journey to begin studying in regards to the league, what they had been doing, to the purpose the place in the end needed to steer the bid and hopefully convey a workforce to Denver, which we’re now doing.”
Denver emerged from a finalists group that additionally included bids from Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The NWSL’s fifteenth franchise was awarded in 2023 to Boston, which may even start play in 2026. Boston paid a $53 million enlargement price, matching the quantity paid by Bay FC, which accomplished its inaugural season in 2024.
The NWSL kicked off with eight groups in 2013, following the collapse of the Girls’s United Soccer Affiliation (2001-03) and Girls’s Skilled Soccer (2009-11). The circuit at the moment options groups in (or close to) New York; Chicago; Seattle; Washington; Houston; Orlando; Louisville; Los Angeles; San Diego; San Jose; Salt Lake Metropolis; Kansas Metropolis, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; and Cary, N.C.
–Subject Degree Media