Boston and Denver are among the country’s best sports cities, so it makes sense that they will be home to the newest NWSL expansion franchises. Can the new teams build upon the success of the league and its recent expansion clubs?
The NWSL’s growth over the past few seasons has been remarkable, and as the league continues its expansion across the country, it will add two new cities for the 2026 season: Boston and Denver.
The new pair of clubs will look to continue the success that recent expansion clubs have had both on and off the pitch. Bay FC and Utah Royals, who joined the league ahead of the 2024 season, both averaged above 10,000 fans per game, with Bay making the playoffs in their inaugural campaign and Utah closing out the season with a strong 5-4-3 record in their final 12 regular season matches.
Angel City FC and San Diego Wave, the previous two expansion squads, have been atop the NWSL attendance records since joining the league as well. While both sides saw down years on the pitch in 2024, the Wave took home the 2024 Challenge Cup and 2023 NWSL Shield, while Angel City put together an impressive rally in the second half of the 2023 season to qualify for their first ever playoff berth.
Both Boston and Denver have proven to be tremendous sports cities, and both are home to die-hard fans for their respective existing teams. But will that rabid fandom translate to a new addition? Let’s break down the current sports atmospheres in both locations, as well as the foundation of each new team.
Boston
This will be Boston’s second go at a professional women’s soccer franchise, as the city was once home to the Boston Breakers. The Breakers played across multiple leagues, including the UWSA, WPS, and NWSL, and rostered stars including Sydney Leroux, Alyssa Naeher, and Heather O’Reilly, yet still struggled to create a lasting buzz and momentum, and the club folded ahead of the 2018 NWSL season.
It took five years for a new club to rise from the Breakers’ ashes, and while fans were excited for woso’s return to the city, the new team’s introduction wasn’t exactly executed with precision.
We all watched in horror as the “Too Many Balls” campaign from BOS Nation FC rolled out last October, and while the club has since redacted the campaign and has indicated that it will be reviewing its current name, people don’t forget.
It was a massive misstep and blow to the momentum of the fledgling franchise, however there should be plenty of opportunities to rebound before it plays its first match in 2026. Boston is a blue-blooded sports city after all, and a solid rebrand (or at least a new campaign) along with some splashy signings should un-tarnish the team’s current reputation.
From a women’s sports perspective, Boston has the Fleet in the newly-formed PWHL, and while the New England region has a WNBA franchise in the Connecticut Sun, they play over 100 miles away in Uncasville. On the men’s side, there’s the Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, and Revolution, who have all had solid support over the years. Even the Revs, who at times had trouble filling out the cavernous Gillette Stadium, averaged nearly 30,000 fans in 2024, a franchise record.
The United States women’s national team has played three matches at Gillette, with the biggest crowd eclipsing 25,000 fans, and five at Foxboro Stadium — Gillette’s predecessor — with a record crowd of over 50,000. However, the last USWNT stop in Massachusetts was over a decade ago in 2013.
BOS Nation won’t be playing in Gillette, but instead will call White Stadium its home. The venue currently hosts various high school athletic teams, and the city of Boston has pledged $50 million in renovations, while club ownership has added an additional $30 million.
In theory, Boston’s love for its sports teams should translate over to BOS Nation, but the club needs to tighten up its execution moving forward. You can come back from a single misstep, even one as big as “Too Many Balls,” but another would indicate a dubious pattern that won’t be easy to redeem.
Low hanging fruit for Boston to regain the trust of its fans would be to sign a hometown hero. Notable women’s soccer stars from the area include Kristie Mewis, Simone Charley, Alana Cook, and Ally Sentnor. In addition to a splash signing, the club could recruit a few homegrown talents to bolster the rest of its roster and build some good faith among new fans.
Overall, while BOS Nation FC shot itself in the foot out of the gate, there is reason to believe that the club will bounce back. Hiring Steph Yang, formerly of The Athletic, as senior director of communications was a good move, as she’s clearly had her finger on the pulse of women’s soccer over the past decade. The passionate atmosphere and strong sports culture in Boston should be enough to get this club back up off the ground.
The Verdict: Re-name the club, sign a few local players, and design some dope merch — it’s not too late for a turnaround in Boston.
Denver
The more recently announced NWSL expansion city, Denver has long been clamoring for its own top flight women’s soccer team and paid a pretty penny to join the league. The $110 million expansion fee is a league record, and more than double of Boston’s $53 million mark paid in 2023.
For quite some time, Colorado has been a hotspot for soccer, and is the home state of USWNT stars including Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Lindsey Horan. Signing one of those players (while unlikely) would bring immediate credibility to the team, but if we’re being realistic, Denver can do just fine for itself without them.
Benefiting from Boston’s gaffe, the new team can follow the blueprint set by successful startup clubs like Angel City and Bay FC, who have built tremendous brands that transcend their on-pitch products. Angel City was near the bottom of the table for much of the 2024 season, yet routinely had large crowds at all of their home matches. Building a community and emphasizing the stadium experience (both easier said than done) have given ACFC a luxury of not living or dying with the success of the team — at least so far.
Denver, you showed UP! 🤩
The PWHL set a new U.S. attendance record today in Denver with 14,018 fans, the highest-ever for a professional women’s hockey game in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/JVdIHFyaRa
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) January 12, 2025
Denver’s appetite for women’s sports is clear. Just this month, the city set a record for the biggest crowd for a women’s hockey game in the United States, and it didn’t even have a home team playing. The PWHL’s Takeover Tour stopped at Ball Arena for a match between the Minnesota Frost and Montreal Victoire in front of a crowd of 14,018. It’s all the evidence you need that the city loves sports, and specifically women’s sports.
The USWNT makes regular stops at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids, with the most recent being Emma Hayes’ managerial debut in June 2024, which saw a sellout crowd of 19,010. According to The Athletic, Denver will look to build a stadium of its own, and will play in a temporary venue until construction is complete.
Denver has a strong love for its sports teams, with the Broncos, Nuggets, and Avalanche all having fantastic support year in and out. And while the club hasn’t made any major announcements yet, its ownership group, led by former pro player and Colorado native Jordan Angeli, has been dedicated to bringing women’s sports to Denver, and we are excited for what is to come.
The Verdict: So much potential to build something great. Now it’s time to execute.
