The National Women's Soccer League awarded its eighteenth expansion franchise to Columbus, Ohio, on terms that set a new high-water mark for women's professional sports: $205 million, paid by Haslam Sports Group, the family office that controls the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew. The team begins play in 2028, giving the league a clean four-year runway to extract maximum value from stadium negotiations, kit deals, and the broadcast window that opens in 2027.
The $205 million fee is 68 percent higher than the $122 million Bay FC paid to enter in 2024, a year-over-year escalation that exceeds the trajectory of Major League Soccer expansion from 2015 to 2020. The Haslams—Jimmy and Dee, who bought the Crew in 2018 for roughly $150 million—are effectively pricing the women's club at par with what they paid for the men's side six years ago, adjusted for league maturity. That's the signal: institutional capital now treats NWSL franchises as parallel-track assets, not charity adjacencies.
The Columbus market was contested. Local reporting named at least two other bidder groups, one backed by Nationwide Insurance executives, the other by a private-equity consortium with ties to Sixth Street Partners, which holds 15 percent of FC Barcelona's media rights. The Haslams won on verticals: they control Lower.com Field, the 20,000-seat stadium that opened in 2021 and already hosts the Crew. Dual tenancy cuts facility capital expenditure to zero and creates schedule density that raises per-game sponsorship yield. The same kit manufacturer, the same local broadcast crew, the same suite-holder database—operational synergy that a standalone bidder would have to build from scratch.
League-wide, the $205 million fee resets the balance sheet. NWSL franchises in smaller markets—Kansas City, Utah, North Carolina—acquired teams for under $5 million before 2020. Those owners now sit on paper gains north of 4,000 percent in five years, a return profile that belongs in venture decks, not sports. The valuation also creates awkward math for legacy owners who deferred capital calls during the pandemic: if you didn't write a check in 2021, your equity stake just got diluted by a comp you can't argue with.
The 2028 launch date is deliberate. The league's current broadcast deal with CBS and Prime Video expires after the 2027 season, and negotiations will begin in 2026. Adding Columbus before that window closes inflates the household reach and time-slot inventory that broadcasters price. The league will sell 18 teams, not 15, into a market where women's sports rights have posted double-digit annual increases since 2022. Apple paid $25 million per year for MLS in 2023; NWSL is already briefing agents that it expects mid-eight figures annually by 2028, implying a per-team payout above $4 million—enough to cover half of current roster costs.
Stadium terms remain private, but Lower.com Field was built with $385 million in combined public and private funding, including a $50 million Franklin County loan. The Haslams will likely pursue a naming-rights refresh or a secondary sponsorship tier branded specifically for the women's team. Nationwide, Huntington Bank, and Cardinal Health—all Columbus-based Fortune 500s—are the obvious first calls. The club will also inherit the Crew's kit deal with Adidas, which runs through 2030 and pays roughly $3 million annually. Splitting that across two teams dilutes the men's terms but raises the women's floor above what Bay FC or Angel City negotiated independently.
Watch the front-office hires in the next 90 days. The Haslams will need a general manager, a head coach, and a head of partnerships, and the candidate pool is thin. MLS clubs have been poaching NWSL executives since 2023, when Atlanta United hired Anita Asante as a technical consultant. If the Columbus hire comes from within the Crew's structure, it signals integration; if it's an external MLS executive, it signals the Haslams view this as a separate P&L.
The $205 million price also creates pressure on the league's next expansion cycle. NWSL has committed to reaching 20 teams by 2030, which implies two more awards by 2026 or 2027. Cincinnati, Nashville, and Milwaukee have been named as markets under review. If Columbus set the comp at $205 million, those bids start at $225 million, and the league has no incentive to discount. That math works if broadcast revenues land where the league projects; it doesn't if CBS or Prime Video walks and the replacement deal disappoints.
The Haslams paid what the market told them to pay. The next bidder will pay more.