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City councilwoman wavers on support for Denver women’s soccer stadium subsidy

By September 8, 2025 | updated 3 months ago

Denver NWSL stadium plan
An artist's rendering of a proposed 14,500-seat women's soccer stadium in Denver near I-25 and Broadway.
Provided by Denver NSWL
Denver NWSL stadium plan

An artist's rendering of a proposed 14,500-seat women's soccer stadium in Denver near I-25 and Broadway.

Provided by Denver NSWL

A proposed Denver stadium for professional women’s soccer could be in jeopardy of receiving public funding following the city’s budget troubles and layoffs.

City Councilmember Flor Alvidrez, who represents District 7 where the Denver Summit FC stadium would be built, walked back her support for the project in an interview Monday on the popular podcast, City Cast Denver, saying she was undecided on whether she’ll vote to approve a $70 million subsidy.

Paul Karolyi, the show’s senior producer, pointed out that Alvidrez was wearing a t-shirt promoting Denver’s National Women’s Soccer League team when the city council voted 11-1 to move forward with the framework for a public-private partnership around the proposed stadium.

Denver approves NWSL soccer stadium agreement, but money questions linger

“It seemed like you were fully all-in at that point,” Karolyi said.

“That was before layoffs,” Alvidrez said. “That was before other things. And so, you know, I will decide as the time comes and when things happen.”

The city of Denver last month laid off 169 people, eliminated 666 vacant positions and transferred another 92 employees in an attempt to plug a $250 million budget hole.

The budget moves appear to have changed the tenor of conversations around $70 million in public funding for the Denver Summit FC stadium at the former Gates Rubber Factory site at I-25 and Broadway.

Alvidrez said she is “not excited” about the $70 million subsidy, which would be used to purchase the land where the stadium would be built and fund infrastructure around the project. However, Alvidrez said she is excited about the prospect of having Denver Summit FC in her home district, but that wasn’t what excited her most about the project.

“I am excited about potentially being able to access the light rail station from Athmar Park, from Ruby Hill, because right now, if you’re going to get over there, it’s very difficult,” Alvidrez said.

When a new national women’s soccer stadium was announced earlier this year, a lot of Denverites were excited. But when the mayor proposed around $70 million to support the project, the debate became contentious. And now, post-layoffs, the prospects are looking murky. So host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are sitting down with City Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, who was a big booster of the project in her District 7, to talk through the latest and all the other big issues facing her district, including Broadway businesses’ recent struggles and why she thinks the mayor’s hyper focus on downtown might mean he’s neglecting other parts of the city.

City Cast Denver

When asked if the Denver Summit FC ownership group was getting nervous about the possibility of the stadium not happening in Denver, Alvidrez said she had not heard directly from the team. She said the process was already falling behind the desired fast-track timeline the team had hoped for because a community benefits agreement process has been moving slower than anticipated.

In the interim, Denver Summit FC plans to play at a facility that has already broken ground in Centennial, but Alvidrez said she thinks the team’s ownership group is getting nervous about the proposed Denver stadium’s progress.

“I have talked to a couple of City of Centennial council members and they’re like, ‘We want it. We’re ready.'” Alvidrez said. “That’s the reality. It’s not a guaranteed thing.”

Denver NWSL breaks ground on training facility and temporary stadium | Sports Business Insider

The Denver Gazette reached out to Mayor Mike Johnston’s office for comment, but had not heard back as of this story’s publication.

Daniel Boniface

Reporter

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