Should the NWSL’s Big Four Teams Be Worried? Plus: Denver’s Attendance Record

Three weekends into the 2026 National Women’s Soccer League campaign, the standings look unfamiliar. The clubs that once hoarded silverware—Gotham FC, Washington Spirit, Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride—have stumbled, while preseason afterthoughts have surged to the top of the table. The phenomenon has reignited debate over whether the league’s much-trumpeted “parity” has finally tilted into outright upheaval, or whether the early-season wobble is simply business as usual for would-be champions.

Recent history counsels patience. Orlando failed to win any of its first three matches in 2024 yet lifted the trophy in November; Gotham endured the same slow start in 2025 before claiming the title. This year, Barbra Banda has already struck three times in four games for the Pride after returning from injury, and Gotham expect Norwegian winger Guro Reiten to reinforce the squad once her Chelsea commitments end. Neither club is pressing the panic button.

The Spirit and Current face steeper questions after off-season midfield rebuilds, but neither has sounded alarms inside their respective camps. Portland, meanwhile, has emerged as the early pace-setter, buoyed by Sophia Wilson’s first start in more than a year and her trademark touchline theatrics that have lit social media ablaze.

If the big four can take solace in precedent, the league office is fixated on another storyline: attendance gold rush. Denver Summit shattered the NWSL single-game record Saturday when 63,004 fans streamed into Empower Field at Mile High for a 0-0 draw with Washington. The figure eclipsed the previous benchmark by more than 20,000 and continued a four-year streak in which the attendance record has fallen annually, each time at a special venue hosted by an expansion side. Boston Legacy drew 30,000-plus for its opener earlier this month, proving Denver’s haul was no fluke.

Commissioner Jessica Berman admitted the Summit’s ambition “wasn’t front and center on our radar,” yet the turnout has triggered “a whole bunch of really fun and productive conversations among other clubs” about staging mega-events. The league is even re-evaluating its neutral-site championship format, hinting that future title matches could land in non-traditional NWSL markets.

For now Denver will play the bulk of its home schedule at a 12,000-seat modular venue in suburban Centennial while construction continues on a privately financed 14,500-seat ground slated to open in 2028. Saturday’s spectacle, attended by U.S. legends Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy, quarterback-turned-investor Bryce Young and activist Malala Yousafzai, offered a glimpse of what’s possible when an expansion team thinks big.

Whether the on-field hierarchy follows suit and flips the established order remains uncertain. Week three has delivered warning shots, not verdicts. The so-called big four still own the star power, the trophies and, most importantly, the recent history of slow starts that end in champagne. Parity, it seems, is more than a front-office buzzword—it is the league’s lived reality, and the rest of the NWSL is no longer waiting for an invitation to the throne.