The National Women's Soccer League awarded its seventeenth franchise to Columbus on Tuesday, with Haslam Sports Group paying $205 million to begin play in 2028. The fee is the highest in women's professional sports history and marks a 24% premium over the $165 million committed by an Atlanta ownership group whose team launches in 2026.
The Columbus deal does two things simultaneously. It validates the Atlanta number, ensuring the league collects the full amount even though that franchise was announced when market comps were thinner. And it resets the entry price for any ownership group circling the league's stated target of 20 teams by decade's end. The league added Bay FC and Utah Royals in 2023 at $53 million each. Boston came in at $108 million last year. The escalation curve is steep and the league is not slowing intake.
Haslam Sports Group controls the NFL's Cleveland Browns and the MLS Columbus Crew, both based in Ohio markets where women's soccer attendance has historically trailed coastal cities. The Crew drew 20,120 fans per match in 2024, sixth in MLS. The NWSL's current Columbus-adjacent data point is Chicago, which averaged 7,891 in 2024, fourth in the league. The bet is that Crew infrastructure—Lower.com Field seats 20,000—and cross-sport sponsorship inventory will compress the ramp to profitability.
The league is now committed to adding three teams in three years: Atlanta in 2026, a yet-unnamed franchise in 2027, and Columbus in 2028. That brings total teams to 18 by the time the next U.S. World Cup cycle begins. The 2027 season will start earlier than usual to accommodate the Women's World Cup in Brazil, compressing preseason and likely pushing kit launches and sponsor activations into late 2026. Brands with NWSL exposure are already adjusting Q4 budgets accordingly.
Expansion fees flow to existing owners as a one-time distribution, not league operations. That means each of the current 14 clubs will split roughly $370 million from the Atlanta and Columbus deals, or about $26.4 million per team before the league's administrative cut. For clubs that entered at the $2 million fee in 2012, the return is clean. For Boston's ownership, which paid $108 million sixteen months ago, the Columbus comp is a mark-to-market gain of $97 million on paper.
The league held its first advisory board meeting this month, convening investors including Billie Jean King, Alexis Ohanian, and members of the U.S. women's national team. The agenda centered on calendar structure for 2027 and media rights, which expire after the 2027 season. The current deal with CBS, ESPN, and Amazon pays roughly $60 million annually. Comparable leagues—MLS averages $250 million per year, Liga MX Femenil is near $15 million—suggest the NWSL will push for a multiple of the current rate when negotiations formalize in early 2026.
Two expansion slots remain to hit 20 teams. The league has not named the 2027 market, though Philadelphia, Tampa, and Nashville have all surfaced in ownership discussions over the past six months. The price floor is now $205 million. The ceiling depends on how many family offices are willing to pay for a seat before the next media deal closes.
Haslam's Columbus franchise will begin hiring front-office staff in Q3 2026, with a general manager expected by year-end. The club will share facilities with the Crew and operate under a separate P&L. Stadium naming rights for Lower.com Field run through 2031 and do not include NWSL inventory, leaving roughly 15 home dates per year available for sponsor activation once the team launches.
The takeaway
NWSL's $205M Columbus fee sets new expansion floor and validates Atlanta's $165M deal as the league races to 18 teams by 2028.
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