Major Women’s Sports in Denver Should Bring Major Sponsor Investments
January 7, 2025
How many dollars is a mile high?
The answer to that question depends on the amount of the bills you’re stacking, but $110 million in singles would well exceed your target. More to the point, the recent $110 million commitment to Denver from the sports world should bring many more dollars to the Mile High City.
Sportico broke the story this past week that Colorado’s capital city had won the National Women’s Soccer League’s 16th franchise, set to take the field for the 2026 season, at that record-shattering cost of $110 million. As per Sporitco, “The $110 million expansion fee is more than double the previous NWSL record for new teams and is also the biggest expansion fee ever paid in U.S. women’s sports.” IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen reportedly heads the group.
These are high times for the NWSL, which will launch its 14th season in March. In 2024, the league boasted of breaking its previous attendance record, drawing over two million fans, and getting nearly one million viewers for its championship game, which aired on CBS. The Denver team, with a nickname to be named later, should be able to sell on this high when seeking out sponsors and partners.
A look at the two expansion teams that joined the league last season, Bay FC and the Utah Royals, can provide multiple roadmaps for the Denver franchise.
Bay FC, which plays in San Jose, lists four global or national companies as founding partners: Visa, Trader Joe’s, PNC Bank and the investment firm Sixth Street. Official partners are Invisalign, Lyft, Meriwest Credit Union and ContentStack. Proud partners are local: The 21st Amendment Brewery, Devcon construction and San Jose Mineta International Airport.
The Royals, who play in the Salt Lake City area, have naming rights for their stadium courtesy of America First Credit Union’ Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake also plays there. Intermountain Health joins America First as jersey partners, and the team’s website identifies five “Crown Founding Partners,” with Domino’s, Select Health and the law firm Morgan Lewis joining the jersey partners, as well as 10 “official partners”: Alsco Uniforms, Coca-Cola, Coors Light, Ford, Interform, Seat Geek, Toyota, WCF Insurance, Xfinity and Zions Bank.
As the sixth major sports team in the Denver area, joining the Avalanche, Broncos, Nuggets, Rapids and Rockies, the NWSL entity will enter a landscape very familiar with these sorts of partnerships. Furthermore, as the first major women’s professional team in the city, it should be able to open even more doors. There’s no shortage of banking, insurance, food, cars and especially beer amidst the Rocky Mountains, among countless other goods and services.
A year from now, soccer fans can see what sort of group this new club puts together on the field to go against its opponents. Off the field, those in the sports-business world will watch with curious eyes to see what sorts of corporate partnership come to fruition. For sure, you don’t set records to land your team with the intention of playing it safe and uncreative at the sponsorship level.
