Commish: NWSL 'not done' growing as Denver reportedly set to join

Ahead of the expected announcement of Denver becoming the 16th team in the National Women's Soccer League, commissioner Jessica Berman maintained that the circuit will continue to grow.

Berman said Thursday, according to ESPN, "Obviously, there's been a lot of rumors circulating, but we will have an announcement (regarding the 16th team) next week, so more to come in the not-too-distant future. We know that our expansion is not done.

"We're in active conversations with our board to determine the next sequence of expansion, and as I've shared before, we have so many interested bidders who were not given a team in this round.

"Part of the effort in the next three to six months is really developing our next expansion strategy. We want to be aggressive with expansion, but we also want to be strategic and smart about how we do that."

The Denver ownership group is set to pay an NWSL-record $110 million franchise fee, multiple media outlets reported on Jan. 2.

Denver emerged from a finalists group that also included bids from Cleveland and Cincinnati.

The NWSL's 15th franchise was awarded in 2023 to Boston, which will begin play in 2026. Boston paid a $53 million expansion fee, matching the amount paid by Bay FC, which completed its inaugural season in 2024.

The NWSL kicked off with eight teams in 2013, following the collapse of the Women's United Soccer Association (2001-03) and Women's Professional Soccer (2009-11). The circuit currently features teams in (or near) New York; Chicago; Seattle; Washington; Houston; Orlando; Louisville; Los Angeles; San Diego; San Jose; Salt Lake City; Kansas City, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; and Cary, N.C.

The Orlando Pride defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 in the 2024 championship game to claim their first title.

--Field Level Media