Haslam Sports Group will pay $205 million to bring the National Women's Soccer League's 18th team to Columbus, starting play in 2028. The fee is $40 million higher than Atlanta's commitment five months ago and the highest in league history.
The league announced the expansion Monday. Columbus joins Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, which began play five weeks ago as teams 15 and 16, and Atlanta, awarded last November for $165 million. The Haslam deal, structured with the Edwards family as minority partners, carries a second commercial benefit for existing owners: It guarantees the league will collect the full Atlanta fee, even if that group's financing stumbles. The Columbus commitment sets the floor. Atlanta now pays $165 million or walks; there is no renegotiation window.
The structure matters because NWSL expansion fees fund league-wide infrastructure, not individual franchises. Commissioner Jessica Berman has earmarked incoming capital for broadcast production upgrades, a centralized performance analytics platform, and stadium development loans. Atlanta's fee was contingent on a public-private stadium financing package in the Summerhill neighborhood that has yet to close. Columbus locked in Crew Stadium access on day one—Haslam Sports Group also owns Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew—and removes the risk that Atlanta's delay forces other owners to backfill budget gaps.
The $205 million figure is 24% higher than Atlanta's and arrives as the league's national media rights deal enters its third year. CBS Sports and Prime Video are paying a combined $240 million over four years, or $60 million annually, which works out to roughly $4 million per team in 2024. Expansion fees do not flow to media partners, but they signal to them that franchise values are rising faster than the revenue multiple typical in early-stage leagues. The going rate for an NWSL team was $2 million in 2019. It is now 100 times that.
Haslam Sports Group's portfolio includes the NFL's Cleveland Browns and the Crew. The Edwards family, based in Columbus, owns several local real estate and logistics businesses. Neither group disclosed the equity split, but two people familiar with the structure said Haslam holds at least 60% and has final say on general manager and head coach hires. The team will play at Lower.com Field, the 20,000-seat stadium that opened in 2021 and hosts the Crew. The NWSL lease runs through 2035 with a club option for five additional years.
The Columbus announcement also clarifies the league's growth ceiling. Berman has said publicly that 20 teams is the upper limit before the next media rights cycle in 2027. With four expansion slots now committed—Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Columbus—that leaves two openings. Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia have all hired advisors to prepare bids. The league expects to announce at least one more market before the end of 2026, with a target fee north of $220 million.
Watch for Columbus to name a general manager by July. The Crew's front office will not staff both teams; Haslam is hiring separately. Also watch Atlanta's stadium financing. If the Summerhill deal does not close by September, the league can reallocate the 2026 start date to another market and push Atlanta to 2029. The Edwards family has already made inquiries about a second NWSL team in Cincinnati, according to one advisor who requested anonymity because the conversations are ongoing.
The $205 million fee is the number that matters. It is the price of admission, and it just went up.
The takeaway
Columbus's $205M fee guarantees Atlanta pays $165M in full and sets the floor for two remaining expansion slots at $220M-plus.
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