Jimmy Haslam's ownership group paid $205 million for the National Women's Soccer League's 18th franchise, awarded to Columbus on April 21. That's $40 million more than Atlanta's expansion fee in November 2025, and it establishes a new benchmark for women's sports franchise valuation after barely one off-season of price discovery.
The Haslam group—led by the owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns and MLS's Columbus Crew—submitted the winning bid in a competitive process that included at least two other finalist markets. The announcement took place at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the Crew's stadium complex, where the new NWSL club will share infrastructure. The deal includes stadium naming rights, academy pipelines, and shared training facilities already amortized across the MLS operation. The team begins play in 2027.
The 24% price increase from Atlanta's November valuation matters because it's happening inside a single expansion cycle, not across years. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has been clear that the league won't expand past 20 teams before 2030, which means only two more franchises remain before the window closes. That scarcity is now pricing in real-time. Atlanta's $165 million fee was itself a 65% premium over the $100 million Boston paid in September 2024. Columbus just confirmed the trajectory isn't slowing.
The Haslam structure also signals a shift in buyer profile. Early NWSL expansion went to private equity-adjacent groups and athlete investors. The 2024-2025 wave brought NFL owners (Atlanta's Arthur Blank), MLS operators (Haslam), and family offices sizing women's sports as a franchise asset class rather than a sponsorship play. Haslam already owns two professional teams; adding a third in the same city spreads fixed costs across three P&Ls and gives him control of the local sports calendar from March through November.
Columbus also anchors the league's Midwest density. The NWSL now has clubs in Chicago, Kansas City, and Columbus, with St. Louis and Cincinnati both rumored finalists for the 19th and 20th slots. That geography matters for travel economics and regional broadcast deals, which the league is expected to renegotiate before the 2028 season. The current national media rights package runs through 2027 and pays roughly $60 million annually across CBS, ESPN, and Prime Video. Incremental teams in contiguous markets reduce per-game travel costs and create regionalized weekend windows that broadcasters can sell against MLB and NBA.
Two open questions follow the deal. First, whether the final two franchises accelerate or wait. The league has been publicly targeting 2028 for team 19 and 2029 for team 20, but the Haslam premium might pull forward demand if other NFL or MLS ownership groups see the same shared-infrastructure arbitrage. Second, whether existing clubs start trading at Columbus-equivalent valuations on the secondary market. Angel City FC was valued at $250 million in a 2023 minority round, but that was equity sold, not an expansion fee. If Columbus establishes $205 million as the entry price, legacy franchises with full revenue streams should trade higher, not lower.
The next visible event is the coaching hire, expected by late May, and the club's first kit partnership, which several sources say is already in advanced negotiations with a German sportswear brand that doesn't currently hold NWSL inventory. The team name and crest unveil in June. After that, the league's annual Board of Governors meeting in July, where franchise 19 and 20 timelines get locked or delayed.
The takeaway
NWSL expansion fees jumped 24% in five months, with only two slots left before 2030—creating scarcity pricing for NFL and MLS owners.
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