Denver Summit set the NWSL attendance record at 63,004, raising the bar for future expansion
DENVER — On the eve of Denver Summit’s first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) home game, Janine Sonis was moved to tears. The Colorado native and Summit fullback has long known the city of Denver was a prime location for a professional women’s soccer team, but wasn’t sure she’d witness it during her career — let alone as a player signed to that team and playing in a game that set a new record for attendance. When the Summit took on the Washington Spirit Saturday afternoon, 63,004 people showed up to Empower Field at Mile High, eclipsing the last record by more than 22,000 fans.
And yet, for all the unforgettable memories the day carried, Sonis hopes the record itself is fleeting. “I hope the record gets broken sooner rather than later,” she said in a postgame press conference. “That’s good for everyone.
I think that if there’s a motto that should be branded across women’s sports, it’s: If you build it, they’ll come. ” Considering the way things have gone the past few years in the NWSL, chances are Sonis’ hopes could be fulfilled soon. Since 2021, the league has added eight expansion teams, including the return of the Utah Royals.
The single-match attendance record has been broken three times in the last three years — each time involving an expansion team. Ambitious expansion teams want to establish themselves as league contenders — as businesses if not also champions — and, increasingly, are aiming to break the latest attendance records early. In 2024, Bay FC participated in what was then the most-attended regular-season game when they visited Wrigley Field in Chicago to play the Stars (formerly known as the Chicago Red Stars) in front of 35,038 fans during their inaugural season.
The next year they were the hosts, topping the record again by packing the stands at Oracle Park in a match against the Spirit that drew 40,091 to San Francisco. This year, the NWSL’s newest expansion — Denver and the Boston Legacy — got to work immediately on their attendance projects, setting new bars in each of their home openers. On March 14, Boston held theirs at Gillette Stadium to the tune of 30,207, the largest showing for an expansion team’s inaugural home opener.
Continue to the original source for the full article.