The Haslam family paid $205 million for Columbus's NWSL expansion franchise, awarded Thursday for 2028 play. The fee is 32% above the $155 million Atlanta's group paid in June and 171% above the $75 million Bay FC paid in July 2023. The league now has 18 committed franchises, with Boston and Denver already playing their inaugural seasons.
Columbus becomes the second Midwest expansion in nine months after Cincinnati considered and passed. The Haslams—Jimmy owns the Cleveland Browns, Dee controls the Pilot truck-stop chain—already sponsor the city's Crew MLS side and control Lower.com Field, the 20,000-seat downtown stadium that will host the women's team. The ownership group includes Dee's son-in-law JW Johnson and private-equity executive Brian Ratner, who led bid strategy. No naming rights were announced, but Lower.com's MLS deal runs through 2031 at an estimated $5 million annually; women's naming inventory typically prices 40-60% below men's comparables in shared venues.
The fee structure signals two things. First, NWSL is pricing future supply constraints: Commissioner Jessica Berman has capped expansion at 20 teams by 2028, meaning two slots remain and bidders know it. Second, the league is extracting premium from Midwest markets after loading the coasts. Boston ($155M) and Denver ($110M, reported) entered in 2024; Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle were already operating. Columbus sits 125 miles from Cincinnati, 145 miles from Pittsburgh (where a United Soccer League women's team plays), and 175 miles from Cleveland, creating sponsor overlap risk but also Midwest corporate density the league hasn't fully tapped. Nationwide Insurance, Huntington Bank, and Cardinal Health are headquartered within 15 miles of Lower.com Field.
The Haslams' ownership creates governance optics. Jimmy Haslam's Browns tenure includes a 2022 $230 million guaranteed contract to Deshaun Watson amid sexual misconduct allegations and a 2014 $1.5 million NCAA fine for truck-stop fuel rebate violations tied to the University of Tennessee program Dee formerly chaired. NWSL declined to comment on ownership vetting beyond standard background checks. The league added a conduct policy in 2023 after the Yates Report detailed systemic abuse; ownership groups now face "character and fitness" reviews, but no public standard exists for disqualifying wealth. Phoenix's recent sale to a Utah Jazz minority owner proceeded without incident; Columbus will likely follow that path.
Three things happen next. First, the Haslams hire a club president and technical director, likely by May, to begin 2026 academy operations and stadium retrofit planning. Lower.com Field needs women's locker room expansion and potentially sideline camera wells; MLS broadcast specs differ from CBS and ESPN women's requirements. Second, Cincinnati's ownership watches: if Columbus sustains 12,000+ average attendance in year one, Cincinnati Soccer Group revisits its NWSL calculus. Third, NWSL prices the final two slots. Philadelphia and Nashville have undisclosed bidder groups; if Columbus's $205M holds as comp, the league extracts $400M+ in entry fees by 2028, backstopping its $240M media deal that runs through 2027.
The league's next franchise announcement will come before October, when renewal windows open for CBS and ESPN. The commissioner wants 20 committed teams on the table when media buyers model 2028 inventory.
The takeaway
**$205M** entry fee is NWSL's pricing signal: two expansion slots left, media renewal starts this fall.
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