Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve Invests in Aurora FC: Boost for Women’s Soccer in MN

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve and president of business operations Carley Knox join as investors in Minnesota Aurora FC, a community-owned amateur women’s soccer team that aspires to enter the NWSL.

“Our partnership was an obvious decision to drive this path towards professional football,” Reeve stated.

Cheryl Reeve

The Lynx are in the WNBA playoffs semifinals, in what Knox describes as a “race for the fifth title.” They are currently leading the Phoenix Mercury 1-0 in the best-of-five series. Minnesota is one of the three WNBA franchises with four championships; none have achieved five. The Aurora FC represents one of the most unique success stories in American soccer. With a community ownership model that has 5,337 investors, the team experienced immediate commercial success since its launch in 2022, with near-full attendance at its 6,000-seat stadium, surpassing the average of some struggling NWSL teams in recent years.

The Aurora ownership group was among the cities that submitted a serious bid for 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 as NWSL valuations increase. Denver paid an expansion fee of $110 million, a significant increase from about $2 million a few years ago. Reeve, who is also the Lynx’s president of basketball operations, and Knox represent the next step for Aurora in its goal of obtaining an NWSL team. A spokesperson for Aurora reported that the team has incorporated a number of private investors, including Reeve and Knox, apart from their community actions, to help the team achieve its goal of becoming professional. The team declined to share the total amount or the percentage of the investment.

“For us, the number one goal is to get an NWSL team,” Knox stated.

Carley Knox

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman confirmed last week that the league will accept expansion teams on a “rolling” basis through private conversations, now that the league and interested groups know what to expect. Denver and Boston will begin play next year, bringing the NWSL to 16 teams. Reeve, Knox, and their 10-year-old son, Oliver, have witnessed firsthand the impact of Aurora as season ticket holders since the first season of the soccer team in the USL W League in 2022. Reeve commented that the energy of Aurora’s fans “emanates” throughout the stadium in interactions that he doesn’t experience in basketball, as he is always coaching during the games. Football is Knox’s first passion, who was a Division I player and coach. She remembers chasing VHS tapes of USWNT matches because there was no other way to see her idols. Reeve and Knox also know success in professional sports. Reeve is a three-time Olympic gold medal-winning coach (twice 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 now-defunct Detroit Shock). Reeve and Knox have established their home in the Twin Cities for the last 16 years. Knox noted that “the community is educated 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 said about the mutual support of the local women’s teams.

Cheryl Reeve

Knox pointed out that Aurora’s success, both on and off the field, has been achieved despite being a team of out-of-season college players with some home games in the summer. He envisions a team that will thrive at a professional level.

“I see the vision of the future,” Knox expressed, “and we are fully committed.”

Carley Knox