The Haslam Sports Group paid $205 million for an NWSL expansion franchise tied to the Columbus Crew, establishing a new ceiling for professional women's soccer and confirming the trajectory observers tracked through Bay FC's $53 million entry in 2023.
The deal grants the Columbus ownership—Dee and Jimmy Haslam, alongside the Edwards and Precourt families—a guaranteed slot in the NWSL beginning in 2026. The franchise operates out of Lower.com Field, the $314 million soccer-specific venue opened in 2021, giving the women's team immediate access to premium hospitality, dedicated locker rooms, and the same local broadcast footprint that carried Crew matches to 167,000 households last season. The Columbus market ranks 32nd nationally but claims the highest MLS attendance per capita and a corporate base anchored by Nationwide, Cardinal Health, and JPMorgan Chase's operations center.
The $205 million figure matters because it resets sponsor math. When Angel City entered at $1 million in 2020, apparel deals typically ranged $500,000 to $1.5 million annually. Bay FC's $53 million entry pushed kit sponsors toward $3 million, and media rights doubled from $1.5 million per team under the CBS deal to an estimated $3 million under the current CBS-Prime Video split. Columbus ownership is betting the NWSL's next media cycle—negotiations begin in 2026 for rights starting 2027—will justify expansion fees north of $200 million. The comparable is MLS, where Charlotte paid $325 million in 2019 and San Diego committed $500 million in 2023. NWSL has no promotion-relegation risk, 12 percent average attendance growth since 2022, and a median franchise value Sportico pegged at $82 million before this deal. The Columbus purchase implies the league is pricing in $150 million valuations within three years.
For allocators, the structure matters as much as the headline. Unlike Angel City or Bay FC, which required new stadium agreements and separate training facilities, Columbus eliminates $40 million to $60 million in infrastructure spending. The Crew already employs a sports science staff, a video analysis team, and a ticketing operation capable of processing 35,000 season-ticket accounts. The NWSL team inherits that fixed cost at incremental expense. Dee Haslam, who sits on the NFL's Super Bowl and Major Events Advisory Committee, reportedly led diligence and will chair the NWSL entity. Her involvement signals the franchise will operate as a standalone P&L, not a marketing line item for the men's team—a structure that makes future minority sales or debt raises cleaner.
The deal also clarifies the NWSL's expansion endgame. Commissioner Jessica Berman has publicly targeted 16 teams by 2028. Columbus is franchise 15. The league has acknowledged conversations with ownership groups in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Denver, but none have announced terms. The remaining slot will likely command $225 million or more, particularly if the bidder lacks co-tenancy with an MLS club. That pricing pressure creates urgency for groups assembling capital now, before the 2026 World Cup inflates every North American soccer asset.
Watch the Columbus front-office buildout over the next 90 days. The club needs a general manager, a head coach, and a technical director before the 2025 NWSL Draft, where expansion teams typically select in December for the following season. The Crew's MLS operations are run by president Tim Bezbatchenko, a former Toronto FC architect who hired Caleb Porter and built a roster that won MLS Cup in 2023. Whether Bezbatchenko oversees both clubs or the Haslams install separate leadership will indicate how tightly the women's side integrates with the men's commercial engine.
The $205 million price is the floor, not the ceiling. It assumes the league's next media deal delivers at least $40 million per team annually, that the FIFA Club World Cup expands to include NWSL representatives by 2029, and that average attendance rises from 8,700 to 11,000 within two seasons. The Haslams are pricing in permanence.
The takeaway
Columbus's **$205M** NWSL fee implies **$150M** franchise values by 2027 and resets sponsor expectations ahead of 2026 media negotiations.
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