Former Buff credits Colorado for path to leading NWSL Denver expansion

Colorado alum Jen Millet harkened back to her days in and around Boulder when discussing her path to become president of Denver's National Women's Soccer League franchise. (Photo courtesy of NWSL Denver)

When Jen Millet left the Golden State Warriors for Bay FC, she made a leap of faith. It was 2022, and the explosion of popularity for women’s sports, captained by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, had not yet reached its boiling point. That decision paid off tenfold last week when Millet was selected as the first President of Denver’s NWSL franchise, its first hire.

She's the youngest of six and was often the new kid at school as her family hopped around the country. So when she arrived at the 3,600-kid Cherry Creek High School south of Denver, she wasn’t sure if she ever could even navigate the multi-building campus. A slew of sports changed that.

Basketball, soccer, cross-country, track, and even tennis. She played it all. But she credits shooting hoops with giving her the confidence she carries to this day.

“Being able to compete and play basketball, I think, is one sport in particular that gave me courage to do things off the court, just in terms of speaking up in class or approaching someone and asking them to hang out,” Millet told Sko Buffs Sports in an exclusive interview.

Millet followed friends from Creek to CU Boulder, where she pursued a degree in English Literature. While a Buff, she stuck with sports, playing intramurals and adventuring into the wild. She hiked, biked and skied, checking off all the boxes of the stereotypical University of Colorado student.

While at CU Boulder, she learned just as much out of the classroom as she did in it. She has a love for live music that, paired with her outdoorsiness, made academics difficult to prioritize. But that didn’t stop her from being an academic weapon.

“I think I learned at CU … A little about balance,” Millett said. “I figured out how to create, like, time management and my own schedule and prioritize the things that you know I wanted to do versus the things that I needed to do.”

After college, Millet quickly rose through the ranks at Live Nation, StubHub and Pandora’s marketing teams. In 2017, she headed to sports with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, where she served as Vice President of Marketing, then Chief Marketing Officer. 

During her time, the team led the NBA in ticket, sponsorship and retail sales. But after six and a half years, she left the organization for the NWSL’s Bay FC, where she helped build the club from the ground up.

“I had achieved a ton in the NBA, and obviously, always folks have more to learn in roles and jobs. But the scope and scale of what I was going to be able to learn and grow and do with this first opportunity at Bay FC and the NWSL was extremely appealing,” Millet said.

She also recognized that the NWSL was a product on the precipice of something massive. She would quickly be proven right. Over the last year, interest in women’s sports has skyrocketed. The NWSL has seen record viewership, and Bay FC leads the league in merchandise sales and has a top-three ranking for ticket revenue, which saw 10,000 season tickets 

“Jen’s understanding of soccer, building world-class brands, ability to engage the community and passion for creating a culture of excellence made her the ideal fit to run our club,” NWSL controlling owner Rob Cohen said in a press release.

One benefit of her new gig is returning to the state where many of her high school and college classmates will be rooting for her to succeed. Since the announcement last week, her phone has frequently buzzed with old friends popping up to offer congratulations and welcoming her home. She also might be seen in the stands at the occasional women’s hoops or soccer game.

“I'm looking forward to rekindling a lot of these relationships now that I'm back in the same market,” Millet said. ”I’m excited to come back up to Boulder.” 

Denver NWSL will play its inaugural season next year in a temporary stadium next to Millet’s alma mater, Cherry Creek High School, where the team will also build its training facility and a girls’ soccer academy to help foster the next generation of women’s sports.