What’s really stopping Denver from being awarded a WNBA or PWHL franchise?

Rob Cohen, part of Denver’s NWSL ownership group and a Denver WNBA pitch in 2023, said the city is missing one thing: a venue.

DENVER — Denver’s growing appetite for women’s professional sports was on full display this weekend as more than 15,000 fans packed Ball Arena to watch a Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game, despite no local team playing.

The sellout crowd for a neutral-site game between Minnesota and New York underscored what city leaders and investors say is a strong and growing market for women’s sports in Denver. But key hurdles, particularly surrounding venues, continue to stand in the way of landing teams in leagues from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and PWHL.

“What we’re seeing right now is there is an incredibly active fan base in Denver who loves women’s sports, wants to see more,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said. 

Johnston said the interest is translating into demand from residents.

“We know there’s a huge appetite for women’s sports here,” he said. “We got a lot of folks yesterday who said, ‘We want a women’s hockey team here, could we get one?’ We got a lot of questions about the WNBA.”

Players are noticing the momentum as well.

“It’s an exciting time in Denver with women’s sports with the Summit just getting started here,” Minnesota Frost goalie and Colorado native Nicole Hensley said.

Denver recently secured a National Women’s Soccer League franchise, but efforts to bring a WNBA team have so far fallen short.

Rob Cohen, part of the ownership group behind Denver’s new NWSL team and an ownership group for a 2023 Denver WNBA pitch, said the city has many of the necessary ingredients, but one key issue remains.

“I think the biggest issue that we have on a WNBA or even a professional women’s hockey team is venues, the infrastructure side,” Cohen said.

Cohen said scheduling constraints at Ball Arena make it difficult to accommodate another professional team.

“Ball Arena is fantastic, but Ball Arena is full for most dates from the Avalanche and the Nuggets and the Mammoth, and then you throw in the concert schedule,” he said. “When we were talking about the WNBA, it was very challenging to find dates and times for that.”

As part of the city’s pitch, potential temporary venues included the University of Denver’s Magness Arena and the Denver Coliseum. But Cohen said those options fell short of league expectations.

“I don’t think they loved either of those sites,” he said. “They didn’t dislike them. I just think they didn’t have everything that they were looking for.”

Cohen believes Denver ultimately was not that close to landing a team in the WNBA expansion process.

“I think we did the early work that we needed to do,” he said. “I don’t really think we ever got close.”

He said other cities had more developed proposals.

“I think there were just markets that had been at it longer than us that were farther along in the bid process,” he said.

Still, Cohen believes Denver could support both a WNBA and PWHL team.

“I do believe that Denver is a market that can support it,” he said. “I believe Denver deserves it, and should have it,”

The PWHL said strong attendance in Denver is one of several factors it considers when evaluating potential expansion markets.

“When the PWHL evaluates potential markets, we look at a range of factors including the strength of the local hockey community, demonstrated fan interest, venue availability and quality, corporate partnership opportunities, accessibility to other PWHL markets, and the overall ability to support a sustainable professional team,” the league said in a statement.

The league pointed to Sunday’s turnout as evidence of Denver’s potential.

“We were thrilled to see 15,512 fans at Ball Arena,” the league said. “The energy in the building was palpable and another strong example of the growing interest in women’s hockey.”

City leaders say a long-term solution to the venue issue could be on the horizon. Johnston pointed to a a framework agreement for redevelopment of the National Western Complex, which includes plans to replace the aging coliseum with a new arena. However, no funding has been allocated toward it.

“We’re doing a community process now to get feedback on what they would want, how they would want it, where they would want it, but there is a commitment and a long-term path to do that,” Johnston said. “And so, we’d love to see as a part of that if there are other franchises that would love to join us in a wonderful new arena.”

For now, Denver remains in the early stages of conversations with both leagues.

“What I’ve discovered in these processes is, you know, it’s sort of like bidding for the Super Bowl or the Olympics or the NCAA Final Four,” Johnston told 9NEWS. “You have to be in it for multiple cycles of conversation to get the chance to build the relationship. We just want to be in the conversation whenever those conversations start.”