NWSL Denver hires Jen Millet as its first president: Colorado native ‘excited' for another build
NWSL Denver has named Jen Millet as the team's inaugural president, the team announced Thursday morning.
Millet, a native of Colorado, is the expansion club's first hire, and joins the franchise after two years at another expansion side, Bay FC, where she served as the club's chief operating officer.
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In Denver, Millet will be tasked with leading the club's business operations, including partnerships, ticket sales, marketing and venue operations, the team said.
'People might say I'm crazy to do back-to-back builds,' Millet told The Athletic on Wednesday. 'But I actually love this kind of work, and so I'm excited to get going.'
Millet is the team's first hire since NWSL Denver was awarded the NWSL's 16th franchise in January. While the team has shared a flurry of announcements in the months since, the club is deep in the process of building out their front office, the club's sporting side and their brand identity.
In making her move to Denver, Millet returns to her hometown roots. She attended Cherry Creek High School and University of Colorado at Boulder. Her two sisters in the area were 'lobbying' for her return over the Christmas holiday, she said. Their push only grew as rumors swirled that Denver was close to landing the NWSL's newest team.
'I was looking at all the possible markets that the league was considering, I was paying kind of close attention to Denver,' Millet said. 'When they were awarded the bid, I was like, 'I want to learn more about this ownership group,' so I networked through.'
So, Millet networked her way to Cohen and those with Project Level, the subsidiary of Ariel Investments that invested in the club. Their conversations were telling, she said.
'Hearing how they shared the mindset that a women's sports team can be a global franchise … and their willingness, and, clearly, (their) ambition to invest in this club, those things were massively appealing,' Millet said.
Millet plans to hit the ground running in Denver after finishing up a few projects with her former club, she said. Her immediate focus will be to digest what's already been done in Colorado and finding ways to further engage with the growing fan base there.
Millet joins NWSL Denver after two years with Bay FC. The club is currently in a precarious chapter, after resistance to its plans to build a training center on Treasure Island and an ongoing league investigation into head coach Albertin Montoya.
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Millet said her decision to leave Bay was largely because of her desire to return to Denver. Her experience at Bay, she said, will be beneficial for her next job. 'I feel like I'm so fresh from some immediate value adds,' Millet said. 'You don't always get a chance to get a redo on a launch, and I kind of do.'
While at Bay, Millet led the club's day-to-day business operations. She is credited with guiding the club to a top-three ranking in ticketing revenue and a number one ranking in merchandise sales, per Denver's announcement.
Before that, she served as chief marketing officer with the NBA's Golden State Warriors, where she led marketing for the team and Chase Center. She also served stints at Pandora, Rdio, StubHub and Live Nation.
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