Denver Summit maiden home match chockful crowd

Article posted by Coliseum, April 1^st, 2026

Image: Denver Summit FC

For the second time in under a year a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match has broken the attendance record for a professional women’s sporting event in the United States with 63,004 in attendance on March 28^th for the Denver Summit FC’s inaugural home match against the Washington Spirit.

‘yahoo!sports’ stated that this game broke the NWSL and the US professional women’s sports league record set by the Bay FC last season when they hosted the Washington Spirit at the 45,000-capacity Oracle Park in San Francisco (US) which drew a crowd of over 40,000 fans.

New York (US)-based the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is a Women’s professional soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system.

On the eve of the Denver Summit’s first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) home game Janine Sonis (Canadian soccer player who plays as a forward or full-back for the Denver Summit FC) was moved to tears.

‘yahoo!sports’ further stated that the Colorado native and the 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 63,004 on the afternoon of March 28^th people showed up at the 85,000-seat Empower Field at Mile High in Denver (US) 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 as she stated in a post-game presser – “I hope the record gets broken sooner rather than later. 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 the 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.

In 2024, the Bay FC participated in what was then the most-attended regular-season game when they visited the 41,649-capacity 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 the Oracle Park in a match against the Spirit that drew 40,091 to San Francisco.

This year, the NWSL’s newest expansion – the Denver Summit FC and the Boston Legacy FC – got to work immediately on their attendance projects setting new bars in each of their home openers. On March 14^th, Boston held theirs at the 68,756-capacity Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts to the tune of 30,207, the largest showing for an expansion team’s inaugural home opener. Two weeks later, Denver more than doubled that in theirs.

The League Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a brief presser on March 28^th before kickoff, “It actually wasn’t really front and center on our radar that Denver would have had the ambition to do what they’ve done here. It surprised us that it could happen in such a short period of time and was a testament and a proof point to the vision to bring Women’s soccer here but I will tell you without breaking any news that it has spurred a whole bunch of really fun and productive conversations among the other clubs to say maybe we should look at playing a game or two at a bigger building in our City and maybe we could break their record. We welcome that kind of banter and competition amongst our owners.”

The Summit won its franchise on January 30^th last year (before the club had even settled on a name) leaving just shy of 15 months to stage what is now the largest standalone women’s soccer game in the United States.

On the morning of March 28^th hours before kickoff the supporters swept through Mile High many already donning the team’s new kits (several of which bore the name of its marquee signing the US women’s national team captain Lindsey Heaps) and navigating their way through the stadium like the seasoned sports fans.

Denver had been yearning for a women’s professional soccer team for so long that the energy on the day it finally, officially arrived, jubilant as it was, was undergirded by a sense of expectation. Not entitlement but the feeling that the 63,000 people showing up to watch a soccer game was reflective of the State’s love for the game.

It also never hurts to schedule a match like this against a team like the Washington Spirit who’ve carved out a reputation as the primary invitee to the big games. They were on the Bay FC’s list for the Oracle Park game last Summer and were also involved in the Seattle Reign’s 2023 game at the 68,740-seat Lumen Field in Seattle. The Gotham FC selected its match against the Washington Spirit later this year at the 45,000-capacity Citi Field in New York City for the inaugural Queens Classic.

The proof of the concept that a record-breaking attendance provides could also benefit the clubs’ ambitions to host an NWSL Championship something the Bay FC also accomplished early on with last year’s Final in San Jose.

Added Berman, “It’s been a topic of conversation over these last few weeks because it cannot make us rethink what’s possible. We’re going to continue to explore the best place to host a Championship and put other options on the table that might not have otherwise been on our radar because we couldn’t imagine that this could become a reality for the NWSL.”

As with most growth spurts the NWSL’s record-attendance era still has its pain points. The one major element lacking from the March 28^th afternoon’s extravaganza was a goal from either side in the 0-0 final score. It was the first time the Summit had failed to score. There is plenty to say of the individual performances – the Denver forward Yazmeen Ryan continues to pose attacking threats and the goalkeeper Abby Smith’s renaissance has been inspiring – but you can’t help but mourn the missed opportunity to convert a casual fan into a dedicated one if, say, they could have witnessed a goal (from either side) in a crowd of 63,000 people.

An empathetic read of the result factors in both the teams’ midweek matches (and last weekend’s fixtures that preceded them) and the travel itineraries they required. On March 25^th, Denver was in New Jersey for a match against the Gotham FC, their first win in the franchise history. The Spirit was at home for theirs but nonetheless traveled to Denver and had very little rest.

This is an exceptional year in the NWSL match scheduling between the Men’s World Cup clashing with many of the venues where the clubs compete and the month-long break the League will take to accommodate that.

At the same time, with Atlanta and a yet-to-be-determined 18th team to begin play in 2028 the match calendar will only get more full raising serious questions not only about a team’s attendance ambitions but their intentions, presumably, to put on a show that isn’t hampered by the players’ heavy legs.

Regardless, the Denver Summit continues its bright start to the NWSL with five points in four games and, with a hulking caveat that this season isn’t even a month old yet, a No. 7 spot in the table that would qualify them for the Playoffs. Smith will savor the roaring rumble of the supporters’ group behind her during half the game while Sonis is ready to run it back.

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