The National Women's Soccer League awarded its 18th franchise to Columbus on Monday, with the Haslam family and local investors paying $205 million to enter the league in 2028. The fee is 2.3x the $90 million San Francisco paid in 2024 and 35% higher than Nashville's $152 million entry price negotiated less than a year ago.
The Haslams—owners of the Cleveland Browns and Pilot Flying J—are leading the ownership group. Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns for $1.05 billion in 2012; Forbes now values the franchise at $5.1 billion. The family's entry into women's sports follows a pattern of NFL principal owners treating NWSL stakes as portfolio diversification: the Wilf family owns Orlando Pride, Arthur Blank controls Atlanta's incoming 2026 club, and Steve Ballmer's wife Connie co-owns Angel City for a reported $100 million basis in 2020. Angel City's valuation reached $250 million in a 2023 secondary sale, according to people familiar with the transaction.
Columbus will play at Lower.com Field, the 20,371-capacity stadium currently home to MLS's Columbus Crew. The venue opened in 2021 at a cost of $314 million, funded by the Haslams and Crew owner Dee Haslam. The NWSL club will anchor 20 dates on the venue calendar during MLS road swings, giving the stadium operator incremental F&B and sponsorship inventory. MLS clubs operating dual-tenant facilities—Seattle, Portland, Orlando—report 12-18% higher venue revenue per annum compared to single-tenant peers, per Deloitte's 2024 sports property benchmarking.
The $205 million fee exceeds the $200 million Charlotte paid to enter MLS in 2019, making Columbus the first women's league franchise to command a higher expansion price than a comparable men's team in the same metro. Charlotte's population is 2.8 million; Columbus is 2.1 million. The delta reflects sponsor appetite: CPG and financial services brands now allocate 8-12% of sports budgets to women's properties, up from 3% in 2019, according to sponsorship intelligence firm IEG. The NWSL's current media deal pays $60 million annually through 2027; CBS, ESPN, and Amazon are expected to bid when the league negotiates its next cycle in Q4 2026. Comparable women's properties saw 3-4x increases in recent renewals—WNBA secured $200 million per year starting 2026, up from $50 million.
The expansion fee accrues to existing club owners as a one-time distribution, roughly $12 million per team across the current 17 franchises. That compares favorably to MLS's $25 million expansion splits but trails NFL's $300 million per owner when Las Vegas joined in 2020. The Haslams' Columbus investment suggests they are modeling $500 million+ exit valuations by 2030, assuming the league's media deal triples and attendance stabilizes above 12,000 per match. Orlando Pride averaged 11,234 in 2024; Angel City drew 19,116. Columbus Crew's women's team predecessor, Columbus Fury, folded in 2010 after averaging 3,800 fans in the defunct Women's Professional Soccer league.
The 2028 start date gives the ownership group 30 months to hire front-office staff, lock stadium naming rights, and sign local sponsors before the NWSL's next media negotiation concludes. Denver and Boston launched in March with stadium deals already secured—Boston plays at White Stadium (11,000 capacity), Denver at CPKC Stadium (11,000). Columbus will need to court title sponsors by Q1 2027 to align patch deals with kit launches. Nationwide Insurance, Huntington Bank, and Cardinal Health all have Columbus headquarters and existing women's sports activations.
Watch for a GM hire in Q3 2026, likely poached from Portland, Washington, or Orlando's front offices. Stadium naming rights typically close 18-24 months before inaugural kickoff; expect announcement by fall 2026. The Haslams will staff the club from the Browns' shared services infrastructure—ticketing, corporate sales, and broadcast production—reducing early-stage burn rate by an estimated $4-6 million annually.
The next NWSL expansion window opens in 2029. Tampa, Phoenix, and Detroit have expressed interest. The league will likely price the next slot at $230-250 million, assuming the media deal closes above $150 million per year. Columbus just set the floor.
The takeaway
Columbus's $205M NWSL entry—higher than Charlotte's MLS fee—signals women's sports valuations now rival men's in mid-tier markets.
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