LOVELAND, Colo. — The Denver Rush, a new full-contact female football league, will play their inaugural game at Loveland's Budweiser Events Center in July.
The X Football League, created by NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, is set to debut this summer with eight clubs. It includes a team in Denver, as well as Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta, Kansas City and Arizona. By 2028, the league will expand to include all 32 NFL cities.
"We are excited to debut the X League in summer 2022 to a national audience," Ditka said. "We believe Loveland will be an incredible market as our Denver Rush takes their first step in building a great franchise."
While women's tackle football isn't new — the earliest records of it go back to the 1920s — the game has never reached commercial viability, according to the league. It will compensate its athletes, and will make tenured athletes and coaches the equity owners of their franchises that they helped to build.
“The game has given me a lot and I believe I have left a legacy I can be proud of both on the field and as well as the sidelines," Ditka said. "Now from an ownership and executive perspective, I want to provide women a high-profile platform to compete against the greatest female athletes in the world while creating a destination league for millions of girls to aspire to play in. This will be a marathon, not a sprint, however, we are seeing the world change all around us for the better. The X League will be yet another indicator that equality has come of age, it's time to give women and girls the same opportunity to play the game."
The X League will expand to the United Kingdom by 2025 and Germany by 2026, with plans for Asia, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. By 2027, the league will have more than 170 matches year-round.
The Denver Rush held tryouts in late January.
Their first home game is scheduled for July 22 at 7 p.m. They will play the Atlanta Empire. Their first game is against the Seattle Thunder in Washington on June 25.
On Wednesday, the X League announced a multi-year partnership with Aggregate Sports as its official corporate sponsorship agency.
Tickets will go on sale on March 15 at 10 a.m. here. You can also purchase them at the Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies Box Office at the Budweiser Events Center. Call 970-619-4122 for more details.
