Haslam Sports Group paid $205 million for the NWSL's 18th franchise, a Columbus team scheduled to begin play in 2028. The figure is 24 percent higher than Atlanta's $165 million expansion fee announced last year and nearly triple the $73 million average Denver and Boston paid to enter this season.
The deal closed five weeks after Denver and Boston kicked off as teams 15 and 16, and five months after Atlanta's announcement. Haslam Sports Group owns the Cleveland Browns and holds a minority stake in the Milwaukee Bucks. The Edwards family, whose private equity portfolio includes stakes in industrial services, joined the ownership group. The Columbus team does not yet have a name, a stadium deal, or a general manager. What it has is a $205 million valuation anchor that every NWSL seller will now cite.
The second commercial effect is mechanical: Atlanta's $165 million fee included performance clauses tied to subsequent expansion pricing. Columbus's higher entry point guarantees Atlanta pays the full amount, removing roughly $15 million in downside risk the league was carrying on its books. NWSL owners—who split expansion fees proportionally—now have confirmation of $370 million in new capital from Atlanta and Columbus alone, versus the $146 million Denver and Boston contributed combined. The gap reflects the league's 18-month trajectory from speculative growth story to institutional asset class.
Three things changed between Boston's entry and Columbus's. First, the league signed a four-year media deal with ESPN, Amazon, and CBS worth a reported $240 million, or roughly $60 million annually—quadruple the prior contract. Second, average attendance for the 2025 season is tracking 8,731 through six weeks, up 19 percent year-over-year. Third, private equity firms circled Portland, with at least two groups valuing the club north of $180 million in exploratory talks that did not result in a transaction. Columbus paid for a line, not a dot.
The ownership profile is stabilizing around two archetypes: billionaire family offices that view NWSL as a venture allocation with social capital upside, and private equity shops that model 12-15 percent annual revenue growth through 2030. Haslam Sports Group fits the former. Dee and Jimmy Haslam's net worth is pegged near $7 billion, primarily from Pilot Flying J truck stops. Their NFL franchise cost $1.05 billion in 2012; Forbes now values the Browns at $5.2 billion. The Columbus NWSL team is 3.9 percent of that purchase price, a rounding error for a family office seeking portfolio diversification and Midwest civic engagement.
Columbus itself is a deliberate selection. The metro area has 2.2 million residents, the Columbus Crew draws north of 20,000 per match in MLS, and Ohio State's women's soccer program averages 2,400 fans—one of the highest non-tournament figures in college sports. Haslam Sports Group has not announced a stadium, but the Crew's Lower.com Field, which opened in 2021 with a 20,371 capacity, sits empty on NWSL weekends. Shared facilities reduce capital requirements and compress the breakeven timeline, particularly if the NWSL team plays Saturday evenings when MLS is typically away.
The league now has 18 teams through 2028, with persistent rumors of a 20th slot reserved for a second Los Angeles franchise or a Phoenix group that includes former WNBA ownership. The NWSL has not formally commented on expansion beyond Columbus, but the $205 million floor effectively prices out regional ownership groups that cannot clear $225-250 million in enterprise value within five years. The era of $2-5 million USL-caliber checks is over; the era of nine-figure commitments backed by audited financials is the present tense.
Atlanta begins play in 2026. Columbus follows in 2028. Between now and then, the league will negotiate its next media cycle, likely in late 2027 or early 2028, with 18 teams and three years of post-quadrupling revenue growth as the comp set. The Edwards family's phone will ring when those numbers post.
The takeaway
Columbus's $205M entry guarantees Atlanta's $165M fee, confirms billionaire ownership as the NWSL standard, and sets the floor for the next media cycle.
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