Denver on cusp of adding National Women’s Soccer League expansion team, source says

Denver is on the cusp of getting its first professional women’s sports team since the late 1990s.

The National Women’s Soccer League is in the closing stages of adding Denver as the league’s 16th franchise, a source close to the negotiations confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are not yet complete.

The winning bid group, publicly known as “For Denver FC,” beat out fellow finalists cities Cincinnati and Cleveland to secure the expansion franchise. The team will begin play in the 2026 season along with the new team in Boston. The news was first reported by Sportico.

For Denver FC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An announcement from the league is not imminent, with Sportico reporting “nothing is finalized, and it could still take weeks, or months, to hammer out a signed agreement.” But the Cleveland Pro Soccer Group put out a statement on Tuesday confirming it won’t be the NWSL’s 16th team

Both Sportico and The Athletic reported that the expansion fee would be in the range of $105 million to $120 million, which would more than double what BOS Nation FC and Bay FC paid ($53 million) in 2023.

Last month, For Denver FC told Sports Business Journal that it had plans to build its own soccer-specific stadium and training facility, but that it would initially start the 2026 season in a temporary venue. The group has not said where the stadium would be located.

Denver is the largest American city without a professional women’s sports team and has been without a team since the Colorado Xplosion, which played in the American Basketball League from 1996-1998, disbanded.

“For Denver FC” launched its bid to get an NWSL franchise in July 2023 at the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Colorado players in the league shared their support on social media, with United States National Team captain and Golden native Lindsey Horan posting a video message.

Since then, the group has put on watch parties at bars across the city and built up the brand through grassroots efforts.

The group’s most well-recognized figure is Jordan Angeli, a former NWSL player from Lakewood who later became the Colorado Rapids’ Apple TV personality and a color commentator for the NWSL. Also in the group are Ben Hubbard, the CEO of insurer Parsyl and a former administration official in the Obama administration; Phos CEO Nicole Glaros; and Tom Dunmore, formerly of Major League Cricket and now VP of marketing for The Snow League. Dunmore has experience launching teams in the past with USL Championship side Indy Eleven.

The group’s lead investor is Rob Cohen, the CEO of IMA Financial Group, who co-led the city’s attempt to get a WNBA franchise in the league’s most recent round of expansion — an effort that ultimately was unsuccessful.

The NWSL has expanded its footprint considerably over the last few seasons, adding four teams since 2021. Cities added over the years include Louisville, Los Angeles, San Diego and the Bay Area. Original hubs in Kansas City (2021) and Utah (2024) also made a return, and Boston is set to join in 2026.

Colorado has been home to one of the nation’s strongest pockets of women’s soccer talent in the country. That dates back to the 1990s when April Heinrichs led the first USWNT at a World Cup and has continued through present day.

There are currently 16 Coloradans playing in the league. Plenty are already household names in the Front Range sports landscape, including USWNT stars Horan, Mallory Swanson (Highlands Ranch) and Sophia Smith (Windsor). Former Real Colorado head coach Lorne Donaldson, who led the Real Colorado youth soccer giant for years and helped develop national team products and NWSL players alike, recently completed his first season as head coach of the Chicago Stars.

There will be significant changes ahead of the league’s 12th season in 2025, including the elimination of the draft, which had a Coloradan drafted every single year it had existed.

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