Denver Summit set NWSL attendance record in inaugural home game

DENVER — The National Women’s Soccer League’s newest team set the league’s single-game attendance record in its inaugural home game Saturday, when 63,004 fans showed up at Empower Field at Mile High on an unseasonably balmy March day to watch expansion team Denver Summit FC play the Washington Spirit.

The attendance smashed the old league record, which was set less than a year ago, by over 20,000 tickets. It also set an attendance record for a stand-alone women’s soccer game in the United States.

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The one disappointment on the day for Denver was that the huge crowd wasn’t able to celebrate a goal, as the teams played to a 0-0 draw.

“I had tears in my eyes,” Summit winger Janine Sonis, who grew up south of Denver, said following the game.

“I truly didn’t believe that this was something that was going to happen in my career. I’m just so grateful to be here. … It was a tough balance to manage the emotions and put in a performance.

“I will never forget walking out of that tunnel today and hearing the crowd screaming for us.”

Denver entered the league this year alongside Boston Legacy FC to bring the NWSL to 16 teams.

The Summit was only officially announced as the league’s 16th franchise in January 2025.

“The ownership group had high expectations for this community, but this community has exceeded every expectation that we had in terms of turnout and ticket sales for the game,” Denver Summit controlling owner Rob Cohen said ahead of the match.

“And it just proves that our city is deserving of this club and this is something that the community has wanted for a long time.”

Saturday’s match was played at Mile High, the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, as a one-off event that the Summit branded as “The Kickoff.”

“It’s huge,” forward Natasha Flint said. “I think I’ve probably been in one other game that was very similar to this, and I think it’s something you’ll cherish forever and you’ll never forget the moment.”

Denver is waiting for the completion of its temporary stadium south of the city, which will serve as the team’s home until a permanent stadium is ready in 2028.

Washington, headlined by star American forward Trinity Rodman, was the opponent for the league’s record-breaking crowds in 2025 and on Saturday.

“I still talk about how my rookie year — obviously it being COVID didn’t help — going from a couple thousand [fans] to selling out Audi Field,” Rodman told ESPN.

“I think it’s really rewarding and really cool just to see how much it’s grown the last five years, never mind 10.

“So, it’s really cool for me to see and for the people who have been in the league less, I think it’s cool to almost step into this when it’s already so big and we have these opportunities. To me, it’s just really exciting. I don’t really get nervous anymore.”

The single-game NWSL attendance record has now been broken in four successive seasons.

Each of the past three years has seen the record fall in venues other than the team’s typical home.

The Chicago Stars broke the record in 2024 with a game at the iconic baseball stadium, Wrigley Field, when they announced a crowd of 35,038.

Last year, Bay FC broke that record in another baseball stadium when an announced crowd of 40,091 fans showed up to Oracle Park, the home of MLB’s San Francisco Giants.

Average attendance dipped slightly last year across the NWSL to 10,669 fans per game.

There is still a wide range in attendances across the 16-team league, with recent home-opening crowds of under 6,000 fans in Chicago and Louisville as examples.

“I think the most I’ve ever had behind me, my own team, is about 7,000 to 10,000, so that’s a big jump,” Summit defender Kaleigh Kurtz said Friday as she thought about the magnitude of her team’s first home game.

Among the stars in attendance Saturday were 1999 World Cup winners Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Aly Raisman.

Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and Olympic gold medal-winning skier Mikaela Shiffrin are minority investors in the Summit.