Denver Summit FC Obliterates NWSL Attendance Record
- Matt Finnigan
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
One of the National Women's Soccer League's two 2026 expansion teams, Denver Summit F.C., had the kind of home debut on March 28, 2026, that should give the franchise's owners optimism for the years ahead.
More than 63,000 enthusiastic fans (63,004, to be hyper-precise) attended the Summit's first home match at iconic Empower Field at Mile High -- home of the NFL's Denver Broncos and that league's fifth largest stadium by capacity (76,125) -- as the Summit played to a 0-0 draw against the Washington (D.C.) Spirit. This shattered the NWSL attendance record, set August 25, 2025, when Bay F.C. played the Spirit in front of 40,091 fans at Oracle Park, home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants.
Fans in Denver were treated to pre-game festivities that included pyrotechnics, a military jet flyover, and delivery of the game ball by the Thunderstorm skydiving team. The Summit's supporter group, the 14ers, also hosted a pre-match party and march into the stadium. Among those in attendance were soccer legends Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain, Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and NFL players Marvin Mims of the Broncos and Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers. Lengthy merchandise lines snaked throughout the concourses as fans bought up jerseys, t-shirts, and related ephemera.
But the real stars of the day were the Summit, whose roster includes Colorado natives Meg Boade (Lone Tree), Ally Brazier (Colorado Springs), Janine Sonis (Highlands Ranch), and Jordan Nytes (Aurora). Captain Lindsey Heaps of Golden will join the Summit this summer after fulfilling her contractual obligation to her professional team in Lyon, France. Fans roared as the team was announced before the game and cheered as the Summit had several scoring chances.
"This was a great day. Colorado really showed up to welcome the Summit," said Julia Kendall of Louisville, Colo., who attended the game with her sister, Sarah Ford. "I am proud to have been here for what is one of the high points in Colorado sports history. It was a beautiful day at Mile High."
The Summit will now embark on an itinerant path before ultimately moving into its own stadium in early 2028. The team will play its 2026 matches at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, in Commerce City (north of downtown Denver) until construction finishes on a 12,000-seat modular stadium at the Summit's practice facility in Centennial (south of downtown Denver).
Ownership announced this week that the Summit formally acquired land in Denver's Santa Fe Yards neighborhood, where a 14,500-seat stadium is expected to open for the 2028 season; it will be the second stadium in the United States dedicated to women's professional soccer and will sit in close proximity to the Broncos' new stadium, expected to open in 2031 in nearby Burnham Yards.
"This is an exciting time to be a sports fan in Denver," Kendall said. "I'm looking forward to celebrating when the Summit wins its first NWSL Shield."
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