Haslam Sports Group paid $205 million for the NWSL's 18th franchise on Tuesday, a figure that matters less for what Columbus gets—a team launching in 2028—than for what it guarantees everyone else. The deal ensures Atlanta's $165 million expansion fee, announced last year, will clear in full when that club launches in 2026. The league now has $370 million in committed expansion capital inside 24 months, with neither check contingent on the other's performance.
The Columbus franchise will begin play in 2028, giving Haslam Sports Group—owners of MLS's Columbus Crew and the NFL's Cleveland Browns—four years to build a technical staff, youth academy infrastructure, and sponsorship base before kickoff. The league did not announce a stadium plan, though the Crew's Lower.com Field seats 20,000 and opened in 2021. The ownership group includes Dee and Jimmy Haslam, who also control a minority stake in the Milwaukee Bucks. The NWSL did not disclose whether the $205 million fee is paid upfront or staged across the build-out window.
The number resets the valuation floor for women's team sports in North America. At $205 million per expansion slot, the league's implied enterprise value—if you assume each of the existing 16 franchises trades at that same entry price—exceeds $3.6 billion before accounting for revenue multiples or growth premiums. That figure is directional, not tradable, but it moves the negotiating range for anyone sizing a minority stake or exploratory offer. The last comparable transaction was Bay FC's $53 million fee in 2023, meaning the price quadrupled in under two years. Median attendance rose 14% year-over-year in 2024, but media rights remain the unresolved variable: the league's current Apple TV deal runs through 2027 and pays a reported low eight figures annually, a fraction of what the expansion math implies.
The Atlanta and Columbus fees also solve a structural problem for incumbent owners. Expansion capital flows to the league, not to existing franchises, but it finances league-level infrastructure—technical development, referee professionalization, medical protocols—that raises the operational cost baseline for everyone. Locking in $370 million before 2028 means those costs are covered without diluting existing ownership stakes further or requiring emergency capital calls if a franchise stumbles. The league has 15 teams playing in 2025; adding three more by 2028 dilutes each owner's voting share from 6.7% to 5.6%, but the cash cushion offsets governance loss.
Watch whether the league announces a 19th or 20th franchise before the next media rights cycle closes in 2027. The current pace—three teams in four years—suggests at least one more bid is already in late-stage diligence, likely in a market the league has publicly courted: Philadelphia, Denver, or a second Los Angeles county slot. The Apple deal expires 15 months after Atlanta launches, meaning the league will negotiate its next media package with at least 17 teams operational and a proven ability to place franchises in NFL markets at nine-figure entry fees. Sponsor renewals for Nike (kit deal expires 2026) and Ally Financial (jersey patch, terms undisclosed) will price in the new baseline.
Haslam Sports Group now owns a top-division men's team, a top-division women's team, and an NFL franchise, all within 140 miles of each other. The sponsor crossover surface area is non-trivial.
The takeaway
Columbus's $205M fee quadrupled the NWSL expansion price in two years and guarantees $370M in league capital before 2028.
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