The National Women's Soccer League awarded an expansion franchise to Columbus on Thursday, backed by billionaire Dee Haslam and her son Clay Haslam, at a valuation of $205 million. The fee eclipses the $113 million BOS Nation paid for Boston's expansion rights in 2023 by 81 percent and establishes a new pricing floor for women's professional sports franchises in North America.
Dee Haslam, CEO of the Haslam family office RIVR Media and minority owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, led the bid alongside Clay Haslam. The team will begin play in the 2026 season at Lower.com Field, the 20,000-seat stadium currently home to MLS's Columbus Crew, which the Haslam and Edwards families acquired in 2023. The NWSL franchise becomes the fourth women's professional sports team in Columbus, joining the PWHL's unnamed hockey club, the WNBA's rumored expansion target list, and various second-tier operations. The stadium already hosts 15,000-plus attendance for Crew matches and will share infrastructure, ticketing systems, and front-office operations.
The $205 million fee carries three signals for team operators and allocators. First, it confirms the NWSL's exit from the sub-$100 million valuation band that defined transactions through 2022. Angel City FC's $250 million secondary market valuation in early 2024 suggested upward repricing; Columbus converts that hypothesis into primary market reality. Second, the Haslam family brings NFL-adjacent capital and operational discipline. Dee Haslam sits on the board of Pilot Company, the family's $37 billion (estimated enterprise value) truck-stop and travel-center business sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2023. The family retained a minority stake and deployed proceeds into sports assets. That pattern—corporate liquidity event followed by franchise accumulation—mirrors playbook moves by families like the Mansuetos (European soccer, Chicago Fire) and the Waltons (Walmart heirs, Broncos, Kroenke associates). Third, the valuation implies institutional sponsors are pricing women's soccer inventory closer to men's second-tier leagues than to women's niche positioning. The Columbus Crew's MLS expansion fee in 2021 was $200 million when the team returned from Austin; NWSL now commands 102.5 percent of that baseline in a league with 14 teams versus MLS's 30.
The Haslams' timing aligns with two structural shifts. The NWSL's media rights deal with CBS, ESPN, Amazon, and Scripps runs through 2027, with the next negotiation window opening in late 2025. Columbus enters play one season into that cycle, capturing upside if rights fees reprice upward. Median MLS media rights are worth roughly $90 million annually per team across national and local deals; NWSL's current deal pays approximately $3 million per team annually. Even modest convergence—say, to $8-10 million per team—would materially alter franchise economics. Separately, the 2026 FIFA Women's World Cup will be played in the United States, creating a 12-month marketing halo effect. Columbus sits two hours by car from Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, all Midwest markets with demonstrated women's sports attendance (WNBA Fever, Big Ten women's basketball). The Haslams are betting the World Cup bump compounds into 2027 season-ticket renewals.
Watch for three follow-on events. First, the Haslams will name a club president and head coach by May 2025 to begin 2026 roster construction under the NWSL's 50-player allocation draft process. Second, the NWSL is expected to announce its 16th franchise before the end of Q1 2025, with bids reportedly active from Philadelphia, Nashville, and Cleveland. If that bid clears $215 million, the Columbus comp holds. Third, sponsor inventory conversations begin immediately. Lower.com Field's naming rights are locked through 2031, but jersey front, sleeve, and kit manufacturer deals are open. Expect the Haslams to target Pilot Company adjacencies—logistics, travel, fleet—or Midwest industrials seeking women's demographic access.
The NWSL now has 15 teams and a $205 million valuation bogey. The league's median franchise sold for $35 million in 2019.
The takeaway
**$205 million** Columbus expansion sets NWSL pricing above MLS comps and confirms institutional capital's permanent arrival in women's professional sports.
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