Haslam Sports Group will pay $205 million for Columbus to become the National Women's Soccer League's 18th franchise, beginning play in 2028. The fee surpasses Atlanta's $165 million commitment announced five months earlier and establishes a new floor for women's professional sports expansion.
The deal has a structural consequence beyond Columbus: Atlanta's payment, previously the league's highest, is now contractually guaranteed in full. Franchise agreements in expansion sports leagues often include most-favored-nation clauses that reset earlier commitments when a later buyer pays more. The Haslam figure means NWSL will collect $370 million from two franchises alone before either plays a match. Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, which entered this season at undisclosed fees believed to be near $110 million, opened their inaugural campaigns five weeks ago.
Haslam Sports Group owns the Cleveland Browns (NFL) and Columbus Crew (MLS), purchased for $1 billion in 2018 after relocating the franchise from Austin. Jimmy Haslam and Dee Haslam have deployed this model before: leverage existing stadium infrastructure and regional corporate sponsorship density to carry a new team. The Columbus Crew play at Lower.com Field, a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium opened in 2021. The NWSL franchise will share the venue, which already hosts national team matches and attracts 19,000 average attendance during Crew games.
The Edwards family—minority stakeholders in the Crew since 2018—are listed as co-owners in the NWSL filing. The Edwards control Dispatch Media Group, which includes The Columbus Dispatch, and bring local media reach to a market ranked 32nd nationally by television households. NWSL average attendance was 11,250 per match last season, third among U.S. women's leagues behind WNBA (9,200) and women's college basketball. Columbus adds a sixth Midwest franchise, joining Chicago, Kansas City, and three teams in California.
The $205 million price establishes a new reference point for women's sports franchise valuations. WNBA expansion fees were $50 million as recently as 2022; Toronto and Portland paid $115 million each in 2025. Golden State's WNBA franchise, announced six months ago, paid $125 million. Professional Women's Hockey League franchises have not disclosed fees, but league revenue is 15% of NWSL's estimated $100 million total, suggesting expansion prices under $30 million. The Columbus figure is 640% higher than the WNSL's first expansion fee paid by Louisville in 2019, when Racing Louisville entered for $32 million.
Sponsor attention follows. The league signed a $240 million media deal with CBS, ESPN, and Amazon last year, up from $4.5 million annually under the prior contract. Kit sponsors now include Nike, Puma, and Adidas across different teams, replacing the single-supplier model that paid clubs $300,000 per season as recently as 2020. Average club sponsorship revenue is $6 million per team, one-third of MLS averages but triple the 2021 baseline.
The 2028 start date is deliberate. FIFA's Women's World Cup will be held in Brazil in summer 2027, and the league avoids launching during a tournament that pulls national team players for two months. The timeline also gives Haslam three years to negotiate naming rights for Lower.com Field's women's configuration, build a youth academy, and close local sponsorships before the roster is assembled. MLS expansion teams typically spend 18 months on these items; NWSL teams have averaged 22 months from announcement to kickoff.
Two more expansion slots remain available under the league's stated goal of 20 teams by 2030. Nashville and Miami have been identified in league filings as cities under evaluation, though no formal bids have been submitted. The Columbus benchmark means any new ownership group will need to clear $200 million in committed capital to be considered.
Atlanta's ownership group now has five months to finalize stadium and academy plans before the next owners' meeting in October, where expansion slot 19 is expected to be discussed.
The takeaway
Haslam's $205M locks NWSL's Atlanta payment and resets women's sports expansion floors above WNBA's $125M Golden State benchmark.
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