On Thursday, January 30th, the National Women’s Soccer League officially announced Denver as the city of its second expansion franchise for the 2026 season. As previously reported, the expansion fee for Denver is $110 million.
The NWSL’s newest franchise is led by Rob Cohen (corporate bio), the Chairman and CEO of IMA Financial Group (website), who is the club’s controlling owner and its representative on the NWSL Board of Governors. Mellody Hobson (corporate bio), Co-CEO & President of Ariel Investments (website), will serve as the club’s Alternate Governor. Ariel Investments is the parent company of a new investment firm, Project Level (website), which will have an ownership stake in the Denver club.
Additional investors include siblings Jon-Erik Borgen and Kaia Borgen Moritz, plus their spouses; Dhiren Jhaveri and his wife, Neelima Joshi; and Molly Coors.
Denver’s ownership has plans to build its own soccer stadium as well as a dedicated team training facility.
When Denver and its fellow 2026 expansion franchise, Boston, join the NWSL in 2026, the league will have sixteen clubs.
Ownership Group
As mentioned above, Rob Cohen will be the club’s controlling owner and will be Denver’s representative on the NWSL Board of Governors. Mellody Hobson will be the club’s Alternate Governor.
Mellody Hobson also has stakes in other professional sports teams, namely the Denver Broncos of the National Football League and the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball.
Siblings Jon-Erik Borgen and Kaia Borgen Moritzare investing through FirstTracks Sports Ventures (website). The two are children of Bjorn “Erik” Borgen (bio from 2000), a former mutual fund executive. Jon-Erik Borgen is the CEO of the Borgen family office.
Dhiren Jhaveri, CEO of Kuvare Holdings, was part of a competing expansion bid representing Nashville, Tennessee, but he withdrew from that bid group sometime before mid-October 2024 (Sports Business Journal article).
Jhaveri and his wife, Neelima Joshi are Colorado residents and part-owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association and Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. She manages her family office (mini bio).
Molly Coors (née McConaty) is the wife of David S. Coors (Molson Coors bio) and has a background in asset management.
The Denver NWSL website has official bios for all of the announced owners.
Stadium and Training Facility Plans
(4-Feb-2025: This section has been expanded and updated.)
Denver’s ownership group is in the planning stages of building both its own soccer stadium as well as a team training facility.
A formal announcement regarding a permanent stadium could be made “in a couple of weeks”, according to controlling owner Rob Cohen (ESPN article).
The new franchise has not yet announced where it will play its home matches until a permanent stadium opens. One option, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, which is used by the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, is not the new club’s first choice. (ESPN article)
The announcement of a temporary home venue is expected within “the next couple of months” (The Denver Post article).
Other possible temporary venues range from the modest, such as Infinity Park in Glendale, to the large, in the case of Empower Field at Mile High, which is the home of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Another potential option is a Major League Baseball Stadium, Coors Field.
Infinity Park (Google Maps, park website), has a capacity of 5,000 and is owned by the city of Glendale. The facility has a grass field and was built for rugby, so fitting a soccer pitch should be feasible. The field also has lights, so night games should be possible. Additionally, Infinity Park is in a central location within the Denver metro area and is about four miles southeast of the state capitol building. A light rail station is about 1.75 miles away by foot (Google Maps), which is not exactly convenient, so adding a gameday shuttle bus system from the light rail station should be a priority.
Empower Field at Mile High (Google maps, website) has hosted international soccer matches (Wikipedia list) and has had a grass field since 2015 (CBS4 news article, 2024 CBS Colorado article) . The stadium has two light rail stations that are about a 10 minute walk away or closer (Google Maps: Decatur, Empower). Of all the options, Empower Field would likely be the most expensive and would probably not be the most cost-effective.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Google maps, website) has a capacity of about 18,000, but is in an isolated location with inadequate public transportation. The east and west stands are covered, which would be good for fans in case of a hot sun or rain.
Coors Field (Google Maps, website), would be an unconventional option, but should be feasible. The new Yankee Stadium has been the home of MLS club New York City FC since 2015, so a MLB team and a professional soccer team sharing the same stadium is workable. However, the first question is whether Coors Field can fit a soccer pitch that meets NWSL standards. Using Google Maps’s measurement tools, it appears that the stadium has room for a pitch that meets the standards of IFAB’s Law 1. However, professional pitches have more rigid standards. For example, FIFA’s recommended size is about 115 yards by 75 yards (105 meters by 68 meters). At least in its first year of existence, the NWSL’s standards were 100 to 120 yards by 70 to 80 yards (PDF). Among all the options, Coors Field likely has the best public transit situation: It is less than a 10 minute walk (Google Maps) from Denver’s Union Station, which is served by four light transit lines.
Another modest option is the University of Denver’s soccer stadium (Google Maps, Wikipedia), but that facility only has a listed capacity of 2,000 and less parking options. One advantage it has is public transit: A light rail station is less than a 10 minute walk away (Google Maps).
From a marketing perspective, Infinity Park likely offers the best spectacle, as it will not be a half-empty MLS or mostly-empty NFL stadium. Infinity Park has an open, modern, and unique layout that looks inviting, plus its bleachers should be fairly packed, given its capacity.
Though, from a fan perspective, Coors Field would likely offer the best fan experience, given its location, amenities, and transportation options.
With over 5000 “season ticket deposits” made as of February 3rd (press release), Infinity Park could be too small, and the University of Denver’s soccer stadium will probably only be a backup option. One concern with choosing a small venue is the possibility of alienating some fans who find that getting tickets and/or attending a match is too much of a challenge.
As the Denver franchise would want to differentiate itself from the local MLS team, the Colorado Rapids, as well as market itself as Denver’s soccer team, not using Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and opting for a stadium in Denver proper as its temporary home is likely the first choice option.
Of the stadiums in Denver, Coors Field may end up being the option that best balances costs while having the best potential to grow the franchise’s fanbase.
Regardless of which venue the Denver franchise ends up using as its home until its permanent stadium is built, there is a strong possibility that the club may play in multiple facilities during a season, either because of scheduling issues with their primary venue, or to play in a larger stadium for promotional reasons (cf. the Chicago Red Stars using Wrigley Field).
Team Colors
For now, the Denver franchise is using two main colors: A shade of forest green (HEX #21604F) and an off-white shade (HEX: #FDF8F2).
The other 2026 franchise, Boston, is also using green as one of its color, but that shade is on the (very) “bright” side.
Denver’s official colors, along with its team name and crest will be announced at a later date. Regarding those details, controlling owner Rob Cohen states a lesson learned the hard way by Boston 2026. From Jeff Carlisle’s ESPN article:
“We want to be very thoughtful about [the name], get the community’s input, really do a process that, again, gets it right,” he said. “You only have one chance to do it right and get it right.”
For Denver FC: The Grassroots Heroes
The official NWSL press release announcing Denver as the newest franchise includes a paragraph noting the involvement of the For Denver FC group (Instagram, Facebook), which had a role in engaging Cohen and other investors.
The group was founded by Ben Hubbard, CEO of Parsyl, during the summer of 2022, who credits his daughter’s questioning of why Denver did not have a women’s professional sports team.
Other key members of the group were sports executive Tom Dunmore, entrepreneur Nicole Glaros (personal website), and former NWSL player and current broadcast commentator, Jordan Angeli.
Although they were not a typical grassroots group, e.g. in the socioeconomic sense, For Denver FC provides a useful blueprint of how local fans can help bring a professional sports franchise to a city as well as create a solid foundation of fans for a new team.
For more on the For Denver FC group, see this The Denver Post article and this Skylark LLC portfolio page (Skylark is an advertising agency that has also done projects for the Kansas City Current and the San Diego Wave.)
Edit: The Athletic also has an article about For Denver FC and how the franchise was awarded (free Yahoo! version).
Roster Building: Won’t you please come home?
With the elimination of all drafts via the new collective bargaining agreement, Denver and Boston will need to proactively recruit all of their signees for their inaugural seasons. Details of any special mechanisms for the 2026 franchises have not yet been made public, but could include special exemptions for transfer fees, both outside the league and internally.
Free agency is now much more expanded than when the most recent debutantes, Bay FC and the new Utah Royals, entered ahead of the 2024 season. The free agency signing period now begins July 1st annuall, so both Denver and Boston could name their first signings in as little as five months.
The Denver metro area has a strong youth soccer scene and has produced the likes of Sophia Wilson (née Smith), Mallory Swanson, Lindsey Horan, Janine Sonis (née Beckie), and Jaelin Howell among current professional players.
The Denver ownership group will be almost certainly looking to land a hometown hero, if financially feasible.
Of the players with name recognition and Colorado roots, Wilson and/or Swanson, who are two-thirds of the United States Women’s Soccer National Team’s “Triple Espresso”, would be the top choices, though both would command high salaries, and in the case of Swanson, a high transfer fee.
Sophia Wilson could be a free agent after the 2025 season (March 2024 AP article), so Denver would not have to pay a transfer fee. She is (just) married to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, whose contract runs through the 2026 season. A move to Denver would bring the couple 400 miles closer together.
Mallory Swanson currently plays for the Chicago Stars and has a contract that runs through 2028 (January 2024 press release) and apparently has an option for 2029 (ESPN). She is married to Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who is under contract until 2029. Given their contractual situations, it seems very unlikely that Mallory Swanson would leave Chicago for Denver in the next few years.
Of all the options, midfielder Jaelin Howell is the most likely hometown player to return to Denver. She will be a free agent ahead of the 2026 season and has switched clubs twice in about six months, first from from Racing Louisville to the Seattle Reign and then to Gotham FC. So, unlike Swanson or Smith, she does not have strong connections to her current club and/or its city. Additionally, absent a stellar 2025 season, her salary will not heavily impact Denver’s salary cap.
Women's Soccer Express 