The NWSL awarded its eighteenth franchise to Columbus on Tuesday, with an ownership consortium led by Haslam Sports Group paying a $205 million expansion fee—the highest in league history and 105% above the $100 million Bay FC paid in mid-2023. The team begins play in 2028, giving ownership thirty months to build a stadium plan, hire technical staff, and secure naming rights in a market already carrying Columbus Crew's Lower.com Field debt service.
The Haslams—Jimmy and Dee, owners of the NFL's Cleveland Browns and a stake in Milwaukee Bucks—are fronting the consortium alongside local Columbus investors. The NWSL declined to name additional consortium members or specify equity splits. The league announced no stadium commitment. Columbus Crew's 20,000-seat Lower.com Field, which opened in 2021 at a reported $315 million cost, is the presumed venue, but Crew ownership (Dee and Jimmy Haslam alongside the Edwards family) has not confirmed a lease structure. Whether the NWSL team pays market rent or a preferential family rate changes the unit economics considerably. Bay FC, by comparison, secured PayPal Park in San Jose with favorable MLS co-tenancy terms; Racing Louisville built 15,500-seat Lynn Family Stadium for $65 million with public-private financing.
The $205 million fee reflects two trends: private equity dry powder and media-rights optionality. The NWSL's current deal with CBS, ESPN, Amazon, and Scripps runs through 2027 and pays the league roughly $60 million annually. The next cycle—negotiated in late 2026 or early 2027—will price in eighteen teams instead of fourteen, making each expansion franchise a future revenue unit for existing owners. Boston and Denver, which entered this month at $108 million each (split between expansion fee and league investment), are already dilutive on a per-team basis but accretive if the next media deal clears $150 million annually. Atlanta, announced in April, has not disclosed its fee but is expected near $180 million. The Haslams paid $25 million more for a market with one-third of Atlanta's metro population.
Columbus, population 2.1 million metro, ranks 32nd in the U.S. by market size. It has no major women's professional team and no WNBA franchise, leaving corporate partnership inventory open. Nationwide Insurance, Huntington Bank, and Cardinal Health are headquartered locally. Crew's average attendance in 2024 was 20,318, the highest in MLS that season, suggesting baseline demand for soccer product. Whether that translates to a women's team without the Crew's forty-year brand equity is the operating question. Racing Louisville averaged 7,836 in its fourth season (2024); San Diego Wave, in a larger market, averaged 11,056. Columbus will need to clear 10,000 paid to justify stadium overhead without MLS cost-sharing.
The Haslams' involvement adds credibility and risk. Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns in 2012 for $1.05 billion; the franchise is now valued near $5.2 billion by Forbes, though the on-field record since acquisition is 79-131-1. The Bucks stake, acquired in 2014, has performed well—Milwaukee won the 2021 NBA title and the franchise is worth $3.2 billion. Dee Haslam has chaired the Crew's board since the family bought in alongside the Edwards family in 2018 for a reported $150 million equity infusion. That track record is corporate governance competence, not women's sports execution. The NWSL's closest comparable—WNBA expansion in Golden State at $50 million in 2024 (play begins 2025)—drew tech money (Joe Tsai, Peter Guber) with media expertise. The Haslams bring stadium infrastructure but no track record in women's leagues where sponsor activation and digital engagement drive revenue more than gate.
Watch the stadium announcement, expected within six months. If the Crew's ownership offers a below-market lease, it signals long-term commitment; if the NWSL team pays full freight, it suggests the Haslams are testing standalone economics. Technical director and head coach hires follow in 2026 once the front office is built. Naming rights negotiations start immediately—Columbus's corporate base is regional, not national, but Nationwide paid $27 million over ten years for Crew's previous stadium naming rights in 2014. An NWSL-specific deal in the $3-5 million annual range would pencil if attendance holds above 9,000.
The expansion fee itself goes into league coffers and is distributed to existing owners. With eighteen teams by 2028, each legacy franchise (San Diego, Portland, North Carolina, etc.) has now been diluted twice in three years. The math works if the next media deal scales. If it does not, the Haslams paid $205 million for a franchise in a secondary market with no built-in tenant advantage and thirty months to prove the business model before kickoff.
The takeaway
Columbus NWSL's $205M fee—double Bay FC's 2023 price—bets on 2027 media rights scaling; stadium terms with Crew ownership determine unit economics.
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