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Columbus paid **$205M**, double last year's expansion price, proving NWSL scarcity pricing works as long as venue and front-office execution follow.
$205 million
for the National Women's Soccer League's Columbus expansion franchise
2028
Jimmy Haslam owns the Cleveland Browns and holds a…
18th franchise
Boston and Denver entered this season at
17th
slot in December
The Haslam family paid $205 million for the National Women's Soccer League's Columbus expansion franchise, the league announced Thursday. The team begins play in 2028. Jimmy Haslam owns the Cleveland Browns and holds a minority stake in the Milwaukee Bucks through Haslam Sports Group. His wife Dee Haslam co-owns the Browns.
Columbus becomes the league's 18th franchise. Boston and Denver entered this season at $110 million each. Atlanta paid an undisclosed sum for the 17th slot in December. The Haslams' $205 million check—nearly double Boston's entry price fourteen months earlier—makes explicit what sponsor buyers and media negotiators already priced in: women's soccer inventory is scarce and the NWSL expanded the window before supply caught demand.
The valuation jump matters for three groups. Existing owners see their stakes revalued upward in a league where only 12 of 18 franchises existed three years ago. Operators building new venues—Utah, San Francisco, and now Columbus—can justify larger capex budgets when the asset appreciates 86% in fifteen months. And allocators watching MLS expansion fees plateau near $500 million now have a women's league climbing the same curve a decade behind, but faster. The Haslams join the Wilf family (Minnesota), Ted Leonsis (Washington), and Michele Kang (also Washington, plus Lyon and London City Lionesses) in the NFL-owner-buys-NWSL cohort. The crossover is not about portfolio diversification. It is about venue utilization, shared services infrastructure, and sponsor bundle pricing. The Browns play eight regular-season home dates. An NWSL team adds 13 more Saturdays with a different demographic skew—higher household income, younger, more female. Dee Haslam will chair the Columbus franchise. She has run the Haslams' philanthropic portfolio and sits on the Pro Football Hall of Fame board, but this is her first operational sports role. The appointment is both symbolic and structural: NWSL bylaws require at least one woman in a senior leadership position, but several teams now place women in the chair or president seat outright. Whether that changes decision-making or just optics remains the quiet debate in sponsor boardrooms evaluating long-term deals.
Columbus last had a women's pro team in 2002, when the WUSA's Columbus Rhythm folded with the league. The city has hosted USA Basketball training camps and draws well for NCAA tournament games, but its NWSL bid is built on Lower.com Field—the downtown MLS venue opened in 2021—and Ohio State's alumni base. The Haslams do not own the Columbus Crew, but they will lease Lower.com Field from the Crew's ownership group. Lease economics are unannounced, but typical NWSL-MLS venue splits run 10-15% of gate plus a per-game facilities fee. The Haslams join a queue. Utah's team opens in 2024 with a temporary venue while a permanent site is permitted. San Francisco begins play in 2026 but has not yet announced a stadium. Atlanta's 2026 launch depends on finalizing terms at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Bay FC currently plays at PayPal Park in San Jose, but the franchise's long-term venue remains in negotiation. Columbus has four years to finish the same process: secure the MLS lease, hire a front office, build a training facility, and staff a technical department before the 2028 kickoff.
What to watch: head coach and general manager hires land between 12 and 18 months before opening day in modern NWSL expansions, so expect Columbus announcements in late 2026. Dee Haslam's appointment timing—now rather than closer to launch—suggests Haslam Sports Group is already hiring a president or COO. The next expansion window opens after 2028, and at least five ownership groups have filed preliminary bids. If the Haslams' $205 million holds as the floor, the 19th franchise will test whether the league can clear $250 million before the decade ends.
The NWSL has added six teams in three years. The Columbus check is $95 million higher than Boston's fourteen months ago. The league does not need more teams. It needs to see if the ones it sold can fill seats.
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