The Haslam family—Jimmy, Dee, and their adult children—closed a deal for National Women's Soccer League expansion rights in Columbus at $205 million, the highest entry fee in league history and 24 percent above the $165 million Atlanta committed five months ago. The team, operating under the Haslam Sports Group umbrella alongside the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans, will field its first eleven in the 2026 season.
The franchise becomes the league's 18th, joining Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC, which started play five weeks ago. Columbus had been circling NWSL since early 2024, when the league opened a formal expansion window targeting four markets. Atlanta landed first. Denver and Boston followed. Columbus closed fourth, paying the premium that comes with arriving last to a seller's market.
The $205 million headline does two things. It sets the new comp for any future bid—Utah and Philadelphia remain in advanced discussions—and it backstops Atlanta's deal. That earlier $165 million figure was structured with milestone payments tied to subsequent expansion fees clearing at or above a floor. Columbus just cleared the floor. Atlanta's ownership group, led by private-equity executive Steve Koonin, now knows the league will see the full number. The NWSL, in turn, locks $370 million in committed capital from two franchises alone, before counting Boston ($110 million) or Denver ($110 million).
The Haslams were methodical. Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns in 2012 for $1.05 billion. He and his brother Bill bought the Titans in 2024 for approximately $1.6 billion, though Bill holds majority control there. The family runs Pilot Flying J, the truck-stop chain sold to Berkshire Hathaway and EG Group in 2023 for roughly $16.6 billion in enterprise value. Sports acquisitions have become the second act. Columbus gives them a third franchise and the only NWSL asset in a portfolio otherwise dominated by NFL properties. The play is regional consolidation: Cleveland sits 140 miles north, making Columbus the natural in-state complement for sponsorship bundling and media overlap.
NWSL franchise values have tripled since 2021, when the league's median team was worth roughly $50 million on private secondary markets. The San Diego Wave, launched in 2022 for $50 million, now trades in whisper markets near $180 million. Boston and Denver, both controlled by private-equity firms (Sixth Street and Victus Advisors, respectively), paid $110 million each for 2025 entry. The $205 million Columbus number reflects scarcity: only so many slots left, fewer still in markets with MLS infrastructure already built. Columbus Crew SC plays in Lower.com Field, a $314 million stadium that opened in 2021 with 20,011 seats. The NWSL team will share the venue, inheriting sponsor relationships, ticketing systems, and a front office already fluent in soccer operations.
The league is now fielding inquiries from ownership groups in Utah, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Nashville. Commissioner Jessica Berman has said publicly the league will pause expansion after 20 teams, likely by 2027. That leaves two slots. Utah has met with league officials three times since September. Philadelphia is further along, with a term sheet reportedly in late-stage review. The price floor is now $205 million. Anyone arriving after Columbus will pay more, not less, unless the league invents a discount mechanism for strategic markets. It has not.
Haslam Sports Group will name a team president within 90 days and begin season-ticket deposits by late spring. The Crew's existing sponsorship roster—Acura, OhioHealth, Chipotle—becomes the first call list. The NWSL's national media deal with CBS, ESPN, and Amazon runs through 2027 and pays teams roughly $3 million annually. Local broadcast rights remain open in Columbus, where Bally Sports Ohio carried Crew matches until the regional sports network's bankruptcy. Expect the NWSL team to bundle into whatever streaming or linear deal the Crew finalizes before 2026.
Columbus becomes the third NWSL market this cycle to enter above $100 million, a threshold the league crossed only twice in its first decade. The $205 million valuation is also 65 percent of what Angel City FC's minority stake sold for in 2022, when Willow Bay and Bob Iger invested at a $250 million post-money valuation. Angel City was an outlier then. Columbus is the median now.
The next franchise announcement will carry the new comp. Utah or Philadelphia, whichever closes first, will reference $205 million in their opening press call, then try to explain why they paid more.
The takeaway
Columbus's **$205 million** NWSL fee sets the comp for Utah and Philadelphia, backstops Atlanta's **$165 million** deal, and closes the league's path to 18 teams by 2026.
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