Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve invests in Aurora FC: Heading to the NWSL

Cheryl Reeve and Carley Knox Invest in Minnesota Aurora FC

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, along with president of business operations Carley Knox, join as investors in the Minnesota Aurora FC, an amateur women’s soccer team with a community ownership model seeking entry into the NWSL.

“Our partnership was an obvious decision to drive this path towards professional football,” Reeve stated. “The Twin Cities will be an incredible market.”

Cheryl Reeve

Currently, the Lynx are in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs, in what Knox calls “the quest for the fifth title.” They lead the series against the Phoenix Mercury with a score of 1-0. The Minnesota Aurora FC stands out as a success story in American soccer. With 5,337 investors through its community ownership model, the team achieved immediate commercial success since its launch in 2022. Their matches are played with attendance close to or at maximum capacity in a stadium with a capacity for 6,000 spectators, surpassing the average attendance of some NWSL teams.

The Aurora FC ownership group was among the cities that submitted a serious proposal to obtain an NWSL expansion team in 2026, which was ultimately awarded to Denver. Minnesota withdrew from the process late last summer, after not being selected in the 2022 bidding round, due to financial complications arising from the increase in NWSL valuations. Denver paid an expansion fee of $110 million, a considerable increase compared to the $2 million of a few years ago. Reeve and Knox, who are also at the forefront of the Lynx’s basketball operations, are an important step for Aurora in its goal of joining the NWSL. A spokesperson for Aurora mentioned that the team has incorporated several private investors, including Reeve and Knox, in addition to its community shareholders, to achieve its goal of professionalization. The team chose not to disclose the total investment or the percentage.

“For us, the number one goal is to get an NWSL team,” Knox commented. “We want to get fully involved and help grow this to get an NWSL team, because it will be an incredible market. There will be incredible support, and the community will get involved in a way we’ve never seen before.”

Carley Knox

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman confirmed that the league will accept expansion teams on an ongoing basis through private conversations, once both the league and interested groups know the expectations. Denver and Boston will begin playing next year, which will bring the number of teams in the NWSL to 16. Both Reeve and Knox, along with their 10-year-old son Oliver, have witnessed the impact of the Aurora as season ticket holders since the team’s first season in the USL W League in 2022. Reeve highlighted that the energy of the Aurora fans “emanates” throughout the stadium, in interactions he doesn’t experience in basketball, as he is always in the technical direction during the matches. Football is Knox’s first passion, who was a Division I player and coach. She remembers looking for VHS recordings of USWNT matches, as there was no other way to see her idols. Reeve and Knox also know success in professional sports. Reeve is a coach with three Olympic gold medals (two as an assistant before becoming head coach in 2024), in addition to the six WNBA titles they have won in various roles (two with the defunct Detroit Shock). Reeve and Knox have established their home in the Twin Cities for the last 16 years. Knox highlighted that “the community is informed about the nature of women’s sports” in Minnesota, and that women’s teams support each other. This includes the Minnesota Frost, winners of the first two Professional Women’s Hockey League championships, and the Minnesota Vixen, a women’s football team, according to Knox. “You can do both,” Reeve stated, referring to the mutual support of the local women’s teams. “It’s not an option, it’s both. You work as a team as leaders to make that happen.” Knox emphasized that the success of Aurora, both on and off the field, has been achieved despite being a team of college players in the off-season with a few home games in the summer. He envisions a team that will thrive at a professional level.

“I see the vision of the future,” Knox said, “and we are totally committed.”

Carley Knox