Haslam Sports Group is paying $205 million for the NWSL's 18th franchise in Columbus, more than triple the $65 million Atlanta paid in July for the league's 17th team. The Haslams, who own the NFL's Cleveland Browns and majority stakes in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, are partnering with the Edwards family on the Columbus bid. The team begins play in 2026.
The price is the highest in NWSL history by $140 million and the highest for any U.S. women's professional sports franchise. Boston and Denver entered the league this month at $53 million each, fees set in 2023. Atlanta's $65 million tag in July reflected tightening supply—the league announced then that only two expansion slots remained. Columbus took one. One slot is left.
The jump matters for three constituencies. Current NWSL owners now hold assets revalued at 3.2x in six months, useful for credit lines and estate planning. Prospective buyers in Nashville, Cleveland, and Philadelphia—cities named in league expansion chatter—face a $200 million floor, which narrows the field to family offices and billionaire operators willing to lose money for a decade. And kit sponsors and jersey partners now price deals against a league where the marginal team costs more than 4x what the average MLB franchise paid in expansion fees in 1998, inflation-adjusted.
The Haslams' move also reshapes Midwest women's soccer. Columbus already supports the USL's Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field, a 20,000-seat downtown stadium that opened in 2021. The Crew averages 20,500 fans per match, sixth in MLS. The NWSL team will almost certainly play there, which gives the league its first purpose-built soccer stadium share in a top-20 metro without requiring new construction. That matters for the next media rights deal. The current $240 million four-year package with ESPN, Amazon, and CBS runs through 2027. Media buyers want weekend inventory in NFL markets. Columbus delivers both.
The Haslams also bring a track record of aggressive spend in women's sports. Dee Haslam sits on the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament selection committee and underwrote Cleveland's bid for the 2026 Women's Final Four. The family committed $120 million to Northwestern's women's sports facilities in 2022. That pattern suggests the Columbus NWSL team will spend at the top of the league's salary band—currently capped at $3.8 million per roster, rising to $5.1 million in 2027—and chase marquee free agents when the next transfer window opens in January 2026.
Three things to watch. First, the head coach hire, expected by June. The league's current coaching market prices experienced managers at $500,000 to $750,000 annually; the Haslams will likely go higher. Second, the kit sponsor. The Crew's jersey deal with Lower.com pays roughly $4 million per year; the NWSL team will target half that. Third, whether the final expansion slot goes to a private equity–backed group or another family office. Two PE shops—Sixth Street and Arctos—already own minority stakes in multiple NWSL teams. A $205 million sticker price tilts the calculus toward institutional money.
The league now has 18 teams entering 2026, up from 10 in 2021. Revenue per team averaged $12 million last year. Player salaries averaged $48,000. The math does not work yet, but the Haslams are buying the math in five years, not today.
The takeaway
Columbus fee sets **$200M** floor for final NWSL slot, pricing out all but billionaire operators and PE shops.
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