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Denver secures NWSL franchise with record $110 million expansion fee, report says

By January 2, 2025 | updated 1 year ago

Paris Olympics Soccer
Colorado's Sophia Smith scores the opening goal as Colorado's Mallory Swanson looks on during a women's semifinal soccer match between the United States and Germany at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, at Lyon Stadium in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Laurent Cipriani

Denver’s getting an NWSL team.

Denver will be home to the National Women’s Soccer League’s 16th franchise after submitting the first payment fee Tuesday, according to a Sportico report. The total expansion fee is $110 million, the report said, the largest expansion fee in women’s sports.

For Denver FC is the backer of the Denver bid and is headed by IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen, according to the report. Denver, Cleveland and Cincinnati were the finalists for the NWSL’s newest addition. The Utah Royals and Bay FC were added this season.

Previous reports stated the Denver club would begin play in 2026.

Of the 18 players on the United States’ gold-medal squad at the Summer Olympics, 14 played their club ball in the NWSL. That group includes Sophia Smith, a Windsor native who played for Portland Thorns last season, and Mallory Swanson, a Chicago Red Stars forward who grew up in Littleton. Golden’s Lindsey Horan, who plays for French club Lyon, was one of the few exceptions. Colorado has regularly hosted women’s national team matches at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.

Other Colorado ties in the NWSL include Lauren Milliet, a Durango native who starred at Colorado College and spent last season with Racing Louisville; Ally Watt, who attended Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs before helping Orlando win the NWSL championship; and Windsor’s Jaelin Howell, who spent last season with Seattle Reign and beyond. Racing Louisville midfielder Taylor Flint and Centennial’s Civana Kuhlmann, a Washington Spirit forward, are the two most-recent NWSL draft selections who finished their college careers at the University of Colorado.

(The Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto contributed to this report.)

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