The National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) 16th club has officially planted its flag: Denver Summit FC. After months of open fan voting, the name emerged as the favourite – a far cry from the chaos in Boston, where the original BOS Nation FC was rebranded to Boston Legacy FC after a public backlash.
Denver, by contrast, chose inclusion over ego.
“This has been a crowdsourced name,” said club president Jen Millet, who joked they can finally stop calling themselves ‘Denver NWSL’. “From day one, this club leaned into community voice.”
Set to debut in 2026, Summit FC’s name and crest embrace Colorado’s mountainous identity. The logo features green peaks, snowcaps, a sandstone red sky, and an orange sun – all anchored by a 26-degree slope, symbolising the year of their first kick.
While fans voted on ‘Colorado Summit FC’, ownership made the final call to go with ‘Denver’. Why? “The ‘Denver’ piece, for us, being the second team in the NWSL with a purpose-built stadium – we really wanted to honour Denver as a part of that and make sure people knew that that’s happening in Denver,” Millet explained.
That stadium – a 14,500-seater, opening in 2028 – will be only the second purpose-built NWSL venue in league history. “It’s a city stadium. And so that felt really good to us,” Millet added.
The contrast with Boston’s fumbled naming process is stark. Where Boston’s original identity was handed down from a closed circle, Denver’s name was built from the ground up. Millet, who previously helped launch Bay FC, emphasised the grassroots ethos: “They look at this club as a community asset… They wanted to get it right, and to do that, they needed those voices in the room.”
The club also retained its fan-approved deep green palette – a nod to Colorado license plates – with branding that includes shades unseen in NWSL history.
“The win for me,” Millet concluded, “is going to be that the fans who were really a part of bringing this club to life are excited by it – and proud to wear it.”
We’ll have to wait and see whether the team will reach the summit in their rookie year.
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