Denver Summit FC joins NWSL with $110m expansion push

This article appears in the Fall 2025 issue of ColoradoBiz under the headline, Pitch sisters.

The planned stadium exists only as an architect’s rendering, the roster has yet to be finalized, the first big sponsorship deal hasn’t been announced, and already the newest addition to the Colorado pro sports ecosystem is more than $100 million in the red, and counting.

A recipe for business disaster? Not so fast, sports fan. The reality is that beyond the early going for the Denver Summit FC, the soon-to-be 16^th team in the National Women’s Soccer League, the numbers may well add up to some hefty value creation over the long haul.

Getting in early on what may be a rocket ship sort of trajectory is the goal (get it, goal?) of the investment partnership that’s paying the bills to launch the new team, which unveiled its colors, green, red and gold, and its shield-shaped graphic crest design in July.

First, though, there’s a big check to write. The $110 million expansion fee reportedly demanded by the NWSL is the highest yet for the league, outstripping the $50 million or so that new entrants from San Francisco and Boston contributed to join the NWSL two years ago, and towering well over the roughly $2 million paid in 2020 by Angel City FC of Los Angeles.

The fact that the league has set the capital bar high, and the corollary fact that somebody has agreed to the number, by itself attests to the realization, or at least the theory, that the NWSL is on the verge of a growth explosion.

It’s not hard to see why. At a macro level, women’s professional soccer is unmistakably a thing. NWSL median live attendance during the 2024-2025 season surpassed 10,000 fans per game. Communications titans CBS, ESPN, Amazon and Scripps are paying a reported $60 million annually for media rights. And consumer brands including Nike, Delta Airlines and Budweiser are on board, attracted by associations with a league that largely manages to avoid scandal and negative headlines. “The viewership is up. The fandom is up. The sponsorships are up. The media rights are up,” said Denver Summit co-owner Mellody Hobson during a January news conference unveiling the team.

Beneath this surface is a rise to prominence for soccer at large, and women’s soccer in particular. More than 14 million U.S. kids six or older played outdoor soccer in 2023, per the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, up from around 11 million in 2018. In Colorado, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association, the number of girls who play on high school teams has risen to more than 8,000 in 2024-25 from 6,800 six years earlier. A lengthy list of youth leagues and club teams only inflates the number further. It’s this sort of organic growth that has entrepreneurs thinking there’s a budding reservoir of fans out there in soccer-land who are apt to form attachments to players like local product Ally Watt, a Pine Creek High School grad and three-year NWSL veteran who was the first player inked to the Summit roster.

The rising fandom could translate to a return-on-investment heyday. Owners are betting that over a multi-year horizon, team values could rise along a path similar to that exhibited by (men’s) Major League Soccer, where humble beginnings have given way to lofty team valuation multiples, some reaching more than $1 billion.

Part of the economic appeal of NWSL ownership is the opportunity to tap into a known financial model characterized by predictable, controllable expenses, including a roughly $3 million team salary cap, along with proven revenue streams. A baseline spreadsheet for the NWSL posits that top-line revenue streams (ticket sales, media rights distributions, merchandising and sponsorships) might add up to around $12-$15 million beginning in year one.

The hope is that the income is juxtaposed against operating and product costs of around the same amount or slightly less. Meaning: It’s entirely possible to storm the pitch (that’s “field” to non-soccer types) without huge deficit expenditures, except for writing a big check to the NWSL and investing millions of dollars in a dedicated stadium. (The plan is for a “purpose-built” stadium near the confluence of Santa Fe Drive and Interstate 25. Denver. Until it’s ready, the team will play its first two seasons at a temporary site in Centennial.)

Bankrolling the operation is a coalition of investors who double as sports enthusiasts. Majority owner Rob Cohen amassed a fortune in the insurance business before emerging as a key figure on the Denver sports scene as a co-founder of the Metro Denver Sports Commission and one of the people who helped secure financing for Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. He’s joined by Hobson, the president of Chicago-based private equity firm Ariel Investments and a minority owner of the Denver Broncos, along with the Denver investment shop FirstTracks Ventures, whose sports-themed investments include All City Network, owner/operator of the DNVR stable of sports media properties.

It’s not as if these owners won’t face risks. The steep entry costs, the capital required to build a new stadium and the ongoing operating expenses tied to NWSL ownership are not for those with weak business viscera or thin bank accounts. One cautionary note: Three NWSL teams have folded or relocated since the league’s 2012 inception. There’s also the nagging question of consumer loyalty in a city that’s loaded with pro spectator sports options.

None of this is news to Cohen, Hobson and crew, of course. As experienced businesspeople, they get that NWSL ownership isn’t a sure thing. Even so, the axiom of any competitive sport still rules the day: you can’t win if you don’t play.