Haslam Sports Group paid $205 million for the National Women's Soccer League's 18th expansion franchise in Columbus, beginning play in 2028. The fee is double the $110 million Boston paid eighteen months ago and triple the $60 million Bay FC paid in early 2023. Columbus becomes the fourth American market to carry both an MLS and NWSL team, following Portland, Seattle, and Kansas City.
The ownership group includes Dee and Jimmy Haslam, who control the NFL's Cleveland Browns and MLS's Columbus Crew, plus the Edwards and Schottenstein families. The franchise will play at Lower.com Field, the $315 million stadium that opened for the Crew in 2021 with 20,000 capacity. Immediate buildout plans were not disclosed, but league sources expect women's configuration around 15,000 seats, matching Seattle's Lumen Field setup. The team has no name, colors, or crest; branding rollout is scheduled for late 2025.
The fee progression tells the valuation story. Bay FC paid $60 million in January 2023. Boston paid $110 million in September 2023. Utah Royals paid $58 million for the reinstatement of their dormant franchise in April 2023, effectively an expansion slot with history attached. Cincinnati is paying an undisclosed amount for the league's 19th team, expected at or above the Columbus number when announced in coming months. Philadelphia's bid, led by Sixers owner Josh Harris, is in late-stage diligence for team 20.
The Haslam playbook is duplication, not innovation. The Browns relationship gives the NWSL franchise immediate broadcast inventory discussions with regional sports networks already carrying Cleveland games. The Crew's ticket database—270,000 unique buyers since 2021—provides a prospecting file women's soccer typically builds from zero. Sponsor overlap is contractually complex but operationally obvious; Lower.com paid $30 million over ten years for Crew naming rights and will almost certainly extend women's inventory at incremental cost.
Two data points matter for franchise buyers. First, NWSL media rights are up for renewal in 2027, one year before Columbus kicks off. The current deal pays approximately $4 million per team annually across CBS, ESPN, and Prime Video. League sources expect the next cycle to clear $15-20 million per team, driven by playoff rating growth—the 2024 championship delivered 967,000 viewers on CBS, up 116% from 2023—and the fact that linear sports inventory is now priced like beachfront zoning. Second, MLS-NWSL stadium pairs generate 22-28% higher per-event venue revenue than standalone NWSL tenants, per data compiled from Portland, Seattle, and Kansas City financials reviewed by club executives. That spread pays for grass replacement, staffing overhead, and kit storage; it does not pay for the expansion fee, but it narrows the operating loss wealthy owners tolerate during growth mode.
Columbus marks the league's third expansion announcement in eight months, following Cincinnati and the pending Philadelphia decision. Commissioner Jessica Berman has said publicly the league will pause at 20 teams to let infrastructure catch up with franchise count. Translation: the next media deal needs to land before team 21 gets a price, because that price will either validate the current trajectory or force a recalibration. Bay FC, at $60 million, looks like either a generational bargain or a cautionary tale depending on whether CBS writes a ten-figure check in 2027.
The stadium math is simpler than the media math. Lower.com Field cost $315 million in 2021 dollars, or roughly $365 million in 2025 terms. Amortize that over 30 years of MLS dates plus incremental NWSL inventory, and the per-event cost structure improves meaningfully. Orlando's new stadium, opening in 2026 for both MLS and NWSL, carried a $320 million public-private tab and was designed from the start for dual tenancy. San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium retrofit added $17 million in women's soccer infrastructure when Wave FC launched. Columbus already paid for the building; Haslam is paying $205 million for the right to fill it 12-15 more times per year and call it strategic asset utilization.
What this is not: a bet that women's soccer is undervalued. What it is: a bet that the next buyer will pay $250 million because the media deal printed and the stadium is already built. Haslam Sports Group runs a $4.8 billion portfolio across NFL, MLS, and minority stakes in the Bucks; the NWSL fee is 4.3% of that book. The business model is not profit; the business model is multiple expansion on a diversified sports holding company when liquidity events come.
Columbus begins play in 2028. Cincinnati follows in 2026 or 2027, though the league has not confirmed timing. Philadelphia would enter no earlier than 2027 if awarded. Head coach and technical staff hires for Columbus typically begin 18 months before kickoff, putting that process in motion by mid-2026. Kit manufacturer deals—Crew wears Adidas—often extend to sister clubs at incremental rates, though Nike has been aggressive in bidding women's inventory separately.
The takeaway
**$205M** Columbus fee resets NWSL floor; dual-tenant stadium economics now baseline assumption for serious bids.
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