Broadcaster Jordan Angeli, who grew up playing for the Colorado Rush, was instrumental in bringing the NWSL to Colorado. Denver Summit FC, with fellow expansion team Boston Legacy, expands the NWSL to 16 teams this season, which kicks off in March.

Angeli played college ball at Santa Clara and pro ball with Boston Breakers (2010-2012, WPS), Washington Spirit (2014, NWSL) and Western New York Flash (2015, NWSL). Her broadcasting career has included becoming the first full-time female TV analyst in Columbus Crew history in 2020. She had previously been the Colorado Rapids in-stadium host and radio color analyst. Angeli returned to Rapids in 2023, while continuing her NWSL broadcasing, which has spanned several networks.

She also co-hosts NWSL-focused shows on Soccerwise and created the podcast Show Your Scars to destigmatize injuries through storytelling.

SOCCER AMERICA: Tell us about your successful quest to bring an NWSL team, Denver Summit FC, to Colorado.

JORDAN ANGELI: I knew [fellow Santa Clara alum] Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner, Brandi Chastain and Danielle Slaton very well and I watched them bring a team to the Bay Area. I thought, “Well, I want to bring a team to my home, too.” 

I got contacted by a couple of guys who were working in startups in Denver [business executive Tom Dunmore and insurance executive Ben Hubbard]. Ben ran a company and Tom had worked in soccer startups. They reached out to me in the spring of 2023: “Hey, we’re trying to bring NWSL to Denver. Want to be a part of it?”  I had no idea who these guys were and I said yes.

I had dreamt of having a team here. We have incredible talent that comes out of this state. And they go out of the state. They can’t play here in Colorado. And so that little dream that started many many years ago slowly started to snowball and become something real in the spring of 2023.

Every single step, I feel like I have tears in my eyes just thinking about what this means to me … as a young girl who grew up in Colorado dreaming of playing soccer on TV one day when I was watching that 99 World Cup. Now those girls can dream and think: “I could play professional soccer on TV. And I could play here at home where I’m from and represent my state and my family and right here in Denver.”

Denver Summit FC will start and play their first game at Bay FC on March 13th. 

[Editor’s note: The Denver Summit FC ownership group is led by controlling owner, Robert Cohen, CEO of IMA Financial Group.]

SA: Can you update us on the stadium situation?

JORDAN ANGELI: The first Denver Summit home game will be at Empower Field at Mile High, which is where the Denver Broncos play. I’ve dreamt big this whole time, so I’m gonna keep dreaming big. We’re trying to sell it out. Let’s get 75,000 people there. I think the last I heard a month ago, we’re at 33,000 tickets sold. 

The next home games will be at Dick Sporting Goods Park [home of the Colorado Rapids] as we build our training facility and our temporary stadium, which will be down in Centennial. That temporary stadium will house the team for the two years before the permanent facility will be done in 2028. 

It will be a place where everybody will be able to get to really easily. And it’s going to be beautiful. I think they’re setting a new standard as to what ownership is willing to do in this league. I think that having our own stadium is saying we know the NWSL is in year 13 but we’re continuing to push the envelope and get better and better.

SA: How involved are you with the day-to-day operation of the soccer club?