Denver Summit Smashes NWSL Attendance Record With First Game at Mile High

Denver Summit FC is playing its inaugural NWSL season after being accepted as an expansion team. The new team hosted its first home game on Saturday at Empower Field at Mile High, and fans showed up in droves, to say the least.

The Summit smashed the NWSL attendance record on Saturday as 63,004 fans filled the stands at the stadium. The previous record was made just last year by Bay FC when 40,091 fans attended a game they held at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. This means Denver broke the record by nearly 23,000 fans—that’s no small feat.

This record set by the Summit may hold longer than Bay FC’s did, but this is the fourth consecutive NWSL season in which the attendance record has been broken. What an incredible accomplishment for the new franchise.

SIXTY. THREE. THOUSAND. 🤯

History has been made & it's all because of you, Denver! pic.twitter.com/MSIKT8ot36
— Denver Summit FC (@denversummitfc) March 28, 2026

The Summit’s controlling owner Rob Cohen was very happy with the fan turnout on Saturday.

“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,” Cohen said ahead of the match, via ESPN. “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.”

Seeing the tens of thousands of fans in the crowd created an emotional moment for the Summit players. After the contest, Denver winger Janine Sonis detailed the feelings she experienced while running out for the start of the game. Sonis is originally from around Denver, so it was somewhat of a hometown game for her.

“I had tears in my eyes,” Sonis said, via ESPN. “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.”

Unfortunately for the 63,004 fans, though, neither the Summit nor the Washington Spirit scored a goal in Saturday’s match. So, the giant crowd of fans didn’t get the opportunity to erupt in cheers for a goal, which is arguably the most fun part of attending a NWSL game. Each team typically has their own celebration tradition whenever a goal is scored—the Summit’s fans will have to wait until next time to establish one.

The Summit won’t always play at Empower Field. The franchise will move to a temporary stadium in Denver while waiting for their permanent stadium to be built by 2028. Currently the only stadium in the U.S. built specifically for a NWSL team is CPKC Stadium for the Kansas City Current.

The 2026 NWSL season is off to a historic start in terms of attendance numbers. The season’s opening weekend on March 14 and 15 broke an overall record for attendance as 129,202 fans attended eight matches, along with making a record for the average of 16,150 fans per match. The Boston FC Legacy (the other expansion team this season) drew in 30,207 fans, which was the record for the largest crowd for a team’s inaugural game. The Summit obviously broke that record on Saturday.

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