The Rookies and the Rebrand
Welcome back to the second part of this marketing series, where we examine what works and what doesn’t in soccer marketing and public relations. Today, we continue examining the NWSL expansion teams, specifically the league's two most recent additions: Denver Summit FC and Boston Legacy FC.
The Rookies: Denver Summit FC (founded in 2025 and began play in the 2026 season)
Denver Summit is one of a kind: even though the city wasn’t officially awarded the franchise until January of last year, they navigated the quick turnaround and played their home opener on March 28, 2026, in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 63,000 fans at Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, before moving to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for two matches and then Centennial Stadium for the rest of the season. Their first-season success is remarkable: they are only 3 points from qualifying for the postseason with 5 games left before the regular season concludes on November 1st.
The team’s early backers saw this coming. For years, Colorado has been a hotbed for youth and college soccer, despite having no professional team to showcase homegrown talent. The team’s inaugural roster reflected this wealth: four players were Colorado natives, including hometown hero Lindsey Heaps, who signed in January and returned to the NWSL mid-season. The marketing team has been intentional about fan involvement in building the team. The best example is the team name itself: the club’s name was selected via an online poll. More than 15,000 votes were cast for the preferred name, as club president Jen Millet (formerly COO of Bay FC) told Marketing Brew. The block party brand launch drew 4,000 people nearly eight months before a ball had ever been kicked. On the 52/80 Pitch podcast right before the home opener, Jordan Angeli, co-founder of the grassroots group For Denver FC and a driving force behind the expansion bid, said that “success for this team… making the playoffs in year one.” They’re well on track to making that a reality.
The Rebrand: Boston Legacy FC (founded 2023, began play in the 2026 season)
Oh Boston, Boston, Boston…
For those not in the know, Boston Legacy FC began life as BOS Nation FC, launching along with a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign, “Too Many Balls,” in October 2024. What was meant as a nod to the lack of women’s sports in the city sparked immediate online backlash, which led to the removal of marketing assets within 24 hours of launch. Common critiques were that the campaign was transphobic and ignored existing women’s sports history in Boston.
After this firestorm of criticism, the marketing team pulled back, surveyed fans and marketing experts to determine what went wrong with the rollout, and ditched the BOS Nation name. After a 5-month redesign process, the team reemerged as Boston Legacy FC.
All of this controversy around the rollout and subsequent rebrand wouldn’t be as big a deal if the on-field product was successful. But the team has struggled with the classic expansion growing pains, along with a lack of chemistry within the roster built from a mix of recent college graduates and splashy international signings. Additionally, with Gillette Stadium booked for the World Cup, they have had to split home games between two different stadiums. All this has them sitting near the bottom of the table despite late-game resilience.
Let the duality of these two teams' trajectories be a lesson to NWSL Atlanta as they move toward their own brand launch on Oct. 4. Expansion in this league is a high-risk, high-reward proposition.
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