Haslam Sports Group closed a $205 million deal for Columbus's NWSL expansion franchise, the league's highest entry price to date and a 37% premium over the $150 million Boston and Denver paid last year. The club begins play in 2028, sources familiar with the transaction confirmed Monday. The Edwards family joins as minority partners; their stake size was not disclosed.
The Columbus slot is the NWSL's eighteenth team and third awarded in the past twelve months. Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC entered play five weeks ago at $150 million apiece. Atlanta's franchise, announced in November, also carried a $150 million tag. The escalating fee structure reflects bidding pressure: four additional markets remain in contention for the league's stated goal of twenty teams by 2030, including Nashville, Philadelphia, and a second California location. The price jump suggests commissioner Jessica Berman is running a clean auction process rather than taking first bids.
Haslam Sports Group already owns the Cleveland Browns, which complicates nothing under current NWSL rules but positions the family to control two women's soccer clubs within a 140-mile radius if Cleveland pursues an NWSL bid separately. The Edwards family's involvement keeps governance local; they own multiple Columbus-area commercial real estate portfolios and sat courtside at Ohio State women's basketball games this season. The NWSL's ownership approval process now includes sponsor conflict checks after Utah Royals FC's ownership group triggered a review over competing beverage partnerships. No such issues surfaced here.
Columbus is the league's third Midwest expansion in eighteen months, following a Chicago Red Stars ownership overhaul and persistent Cincinnati rumors. The city offers a 900,000-person metro, an existing soccer supporter culture from the Crew, and a downtown stadium plan already in preliminary talks with city officials. The Crew's Lower.com Field, which opened in 2021 at a $315 million cost, seats 20,000 and could host NWSL matches under a revenue-share model until a dedicated venue opens. The NWSL's median attendance sits at 11,200 per match through the season's first five weeks; Columbus would need roughly half that figure to clear operating costs in year one.
The $205 million fee flows directly to existing team owners as a distribution, not league operating funds. That structure turns each expansion round into a liquidity event for early entrants: the original eight NWSL clubs, formed for fees under $5 million, now receive $11.4 million each from the Columbus sale alone. Atlanta, Boston, and Denver receive smaller pro-rata shares. The math favors selling before 2030; once the league hits twenty teams, expansion pauses and franchise value growth depends entirely on media rights and sponsorship multiples.
Media rights remain the dangling variable. The NWSL's current deal with CBS and ESPN runs through 2027 and pays roughly $60 million annually, split among all teams. Negotiations for the next cycle begin in early 2026. League executives believe a twenty-team footprint, anchored by Boston, Denver, Columbus, and Atlanta, positions them for a $200 million-plus annual package. That would require a 3.3x increase from the current deal. For context, MLS's most recent media contract delivered a 2.5x bump.
The 2028 launch date gives Columbus thirty months to finalize stadium plans, hire a technical staff, and begin academy operations. The NWSL requires all expansion teams to field youth development programs by their second season; the Haslams can borrow infrastructure from the Browns' training facility in Berea, though youth soccer parents prefer urban training sites. Kit sponsor and naming rights deals typically close 12-18 months before inaugural kickoff. Nationwide, Huntington, and Cardinal Health all maintain Columbus headquarters and have not yet backed an NWSL club.
The league's next expansion announcement is expected before the summer transfer window closes in September, with Nashville and Philadelphia considered the frontrunners for slots nineteen and twenty.
The takeaway
Columbus pays $205M for NWSL entry, a 37% premium over last year's price; league reaches eighteen teams with two slots left.
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