The National Women's Soccer League awarded its 18th franchise to Columbus and Haslam Sports Group for $205 million, five weeks after Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC opened play as teams 15 and 16. The fee is the highest in NWSL history and $40 million above the $165 million Atlanta committed in November. The Columbus announcement was timed to close before Atlanta's first payment was due, ensuring the league collects both fees without renegotiation risk.
Haslam Sports Group—controlled by billionaire owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, who also own the NFL's Cleveland Browns and a stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks—joins the Edwards family as lead investors. The franchise will begin play in 2027 at a venue yet to be named, though people familiar with the ownership structure expect a site announcement within six months, likely tied to a broader mixed-use development the Haslams have explored near downtown Columbus. The team will share certain back-office infrastructure with the Browns, including analytics personnel and performance science staff already embedded in Cleveland.
The $205 million fee structure matters because it validates Atlanta's commitment. When Atlanta United majority owner Arthur Blank announced his NWSL bid last fall, the $165 million price was contingent on no subsequent franchise selling for less. The Columbus deal clears that hurdle and triggers Atlanta's full payment schedule, which began flowing in January. NWSL owners now have $370 million in expansion capital from two slots, minus league office transaction costs, split proportionally across the 16 existing teams. For a team like Angel City FC, already valued north of $250 million in private secondary trades, the per-club distribution adds roughly $23 million to balance sheets before the 2025 media rights negotiation begins.
The Haslam playbook in Columbus will mirror the Cleveland model: premium seating inventory sold to corporate sponsors before a single brick is laid, kit partnerships locked in eight months ahead of the first match, and a technical director hired from Europe with MLS crossover credibility. The Browns averaged 67,431 fans per home game last season, making Cleveland the NFL's tenth-largest draw; Columbus itself has 905,000 residents in the metro area, comparable to Austin FC's market when it launched MLS play in 2021. Austin sold 20,738 season tickets in its first year. Columbus Crew SC, the MLS side, averages 20,477 in a 20,371-capacity stadium, meaning the NWSL franchise will likely target a 12,000-seat venue with expansion to 15,000 if demand warrants.
The Edwards family's involvement is less publicized but carries operational weight. They control a portfolio of real estate holdings in Ohio and have worked with the Haslams on previous Cleveland development projects. Their presence suggests the stadium site will involve adjacent retail or residential phases, generating ancillary revenue streams before the team kicks off. NWSL teams that own or co-develop their venues—like Racing Louisville, which opened Lynn Family Stadium in 2020—report 18-22% higher per-match revenue than clubs leasing generic facilities, according to league financial disclosures.
The timing also positions Columbus ahead of Cincinnati, which has circled NWSL expansion but lacks a committed ownership group. The league's preference is to avoid placing two Ohio teams in overlapping media markets unless broadcast rights negotiations justify it. The next NWSL media deal, expected to be finalized by March 2026, will set per-team payouts that either make a second Ohio franchise economically redundant or, if rights fees jump past $40 million annually, open the door for a Cincinnati bid in 2028.
Watch for the Columbus stadium site announcement by September, likely paired with a kit sponsor in the financial services or healthcare category. The Edwards family will name a club president within ninety days, and that hire will telegraph whether the franchise intends to poach personnel from MLS or European women's leagues. Atlanta's first payment to the NWSL clears escrow in March; once both fees are banked, expect a revised league revenue-sharing model that adjusts playoff distribution to account for the larger ownership base. The Haslams' next quarterly earnings call for Pilot Company, their truck-stop empire, will include a line item for "sports investments" that didn't exist a year ago.
The takeaway
Columbus's $205M NWSL fee validates Atlanta's $165M commitment, delivering $370M in expansion capital split across 16 teams before 2025 media talks.
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