Haslam Sports Group paid $205 million for the NWSL's 18th expansion franchise, awarded Monday for Columbus play beginning in 2028. The fee is 136% higher than Boston's $87 million entry in 2024 and establishes a new floor for secondary-market conversations across the league's existing 14 operating clubs.
The Haslam family controls the NFL Cleveland Browns and Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew. The NWSL franchise will share Lower.com Field, a 20,371-seat stadium that opened in 2021 and already hosts the Crew, allowing Columbus to skip the single-digit operating margin grind of leased municipal venues. The Haslams inherit 66% of the stadium's premium inventory and local sponsorship infrastructure built for MLS, including Nationwide's $140 million naming-rights package that runs through 2027. The NWSL team arrives as renewal talks for that deal enter late innings.
The $205 million number resets franchise-sale comps for existing owners considering exits or minority placements. Orlando Pride ownership fielded inbound interest last fall at valuations near $120 million but never opened a formal process. That math now looks stale. Washington Spirit sold for $35 million in 2022; Angel City raised capital at a $250 million valuation in 2023, though equity rounds carry different pricing mechanics than outright sales. The Columbus fee represents cash paid directly to the league's 14 existing ownership groups, distributed pro rata, meaning each club receives roughly $14.6 million this quarter without diluting their own equity.
The timing compresses league inventory risk. The NWSL announced Bay Area and Cincinnati franchises in 2024, both slated for 2026 launches. Columbus pushes the roster to 17 active clubs by 2026 and 18 by 2028, requiring roster depth across 468 contracted players by opening day 2028 versus 308 today. The league's ongoing collective-bargaining talks include minimum-salary floors and international roster-slot rules that could restrict clubs' ability to fill out benches with low-cost academy graduates. Commissioner Jessica Berman has publicly targeted 20 clubs by 2030, which would require two more expansion awards in the next 24 months at fees likely north of $220 million if Columbus establishes the trendline.
The Haslam entry creates optionality for Crew technical staff already operating in Columbus. Crew general manager Issa Ibrahim and sporting director Pat Onstad have MLS roster-building track records but no formal NWSL experience. The league does not restrict dual-hat arrangements, and the Crew's analytics department, which employs 11 full-time staff, could service both clubs. Portland Thorns and Timbers share front-office resources under single ownership; Orlando City and Orlando Pride operate separately despite common ownership. The Haslams have not announced staffing structure, and the 30-month runway to 2028 kickoff leaves room for either approach.
Expansion-fee acceleration forces family offices and private-equity scouts to update underwriting models that priced NWSL equity using Boston's $87 million benchmark. The 136% one-year gain implies either Boston's 2024 fee underpriced scarcity or Columbus's 2025 fee front-runs media-rights inflation that has not yet materialized. The league's current media deal with CBS, ESPN, and Amazon runs through 2027 at a reported $60 million annually across all partners, or roughly $3.5 million per club per year. Comparable MLS clubs earn $100 million-plus annually from Apple's global streaming package. The delta explains why Columbus's $205 million check assumes the next NWSL media cycle closes that gap or ownership monetizes Lower.com Field's venue optionality independently.
The league will announce Columbus branding, colors, and coaching staff in Q4 2025, per standard expansion timelines. The 2028 kickoff allows the club to enter alongside the next media-rights deal and after FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 in Brazil, which historically lifts league attendance and sponsorship activity in the following domestic season.
Watch for Bay Area and Cincinnati naming announcements in May 2025, which will clarify whether those clubs, sold at lower fees in 2024, negotiate retroactive adjustments or accept the Columbus reset as market evolution. Also watch whether the Haslams pursue a women's team for their United Soccer League men's club, Crew 2, which would create a third-division development pipeline under common ownership, a structure only Portland and Kansas City currently deploy in women's soccer.
The takeaway
Columbus's **$205M** fee doubles last year's benchmark, forcing every NWSL franchise to reprice and giving the league **$14.6M per club** in immediate, non-dilutive cash.
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