Columbus is coming to the NWSL. Some locals are conflicted about it

“We have to trust and defer to the public process in the city council. We’re really grateful that it was approved last night,” Jessica Berman, the NWSL commissioner, told The Athletic. “We know that part of what has created the circumstances and environment for men’s sports to be as successful as they are in America is the investment from the public sector in infrastructure, and that has happened over the course of many decades.

“It is only now that women’s sports has a seat at the table to be able to ensure that we’re in a position to build the foundation of a professional sports league the way it’s been done for men. We think it’s really important that there be these public, private partnerships as part of our growth story in order to set this team up for long-term success.”

In addition to the admission tax, the ownership group also agreed to raise $12 million that would go to community initiatives, sources said.

As part of this new agreement, the ownership committed to contributing $3 million to Columbus Recreation and Parks Department toward identifying and creating a new park for amenities in McCoy Park. It also requires the team to remain in the county for about 25 years.

The park was the focal point of tensions during Monday’s meeting. Locals said they were promised extensive renovations to the community park beginning this year. As the Columbus Dispatch reported, residents were outraged that the bulk of the park will be used for the new NWSL club’s training facility. Per the report, residents had worked with the city on a plan since at least 2023 to renovate the park and offer adaptive sports fields for residents with disabilities.

“This is one of the most disadvantaged areas in the city of Columbus, so much so that they have the lowest life expectancy in the state,” said Liz Reed, chair of the Southwest Area Commission, while addressing the city council on Monday.

“We love soccer, and we love women’s sports, and (when) you combine those together, Columbus supports that.… (but) if it is given away, you have disadvantaged people who have no park.

“They can’t walk their dog. They’ll have no place to do those things — and that’s not just for the time. If we can’t find another piece of land somewhere close by, then they don’t have a place ever for that.”

McCoy Park is located in the South Franklinton neighborhood of Southwest Columbus. Last year, the Columbus Dispatch published a report citing CDC research that grouped South Franklinton among the census tracts with the lowest life expectancy in the country at 60 years old, 15 years lower than the national average. The CDC’s research was conducted in 2015, but experts told the Dispatch that due to continued systemic issues, including food deserts, lack of access to quality health care and high rates of socioeconomic-induced stress, low life expectancy is more likely to remain an issue than not.

One of the policy changes recommended by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio to improve the quality of life in South Franklinton is “giving residents more access to green spaces and nutrition,” according to the paper.

Even those who voted in favor of the deal on Monday, including Columbus City Council president Shannon Hardin, were critical of the position the council was put in to approve it. “I’m taking a terrible vote to make sure that we are still able to do a very big thing like bring women’s soccer to Columbus,” Hardin said.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon following the league’s announcement, Columbus franchise governor Whitney Haslam Johnson was asked about the process of landing on McCoy Park as a prospective location for the NWSL team’s training facility given the divisive feelings about it in the community.

“We’ve been collaborating closely with the city and looked at a variety of options,” she said. “This option, based on when we have to have the training facility ready, and its proximity, was the best location for our brand new state-of-the-art training facility we’re really excited to get. We are in the process of finalizing the plans and it will be ready to go by 2028.”

While the new franchise’s name, branding and colors are yet to be announced, the NWSL Haslam Johnson told The Athletic they will add a new locker room for the women’s team to the stadium and adjust the signage.

Before the new team starts playing in their new home, Columbus will host the NWSL Challenge Cup on June 26 between reigning shield winners Kansas City Current and reigning champions Gotham FC, as well as a men’s national team friendly between Ecuador and Guatemala on June 7. Columbus was also selected earlier this year to host nine soccer matches (six men’s and two women’s in the group stage, plus a men’s quarterfinal) during the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

The unveiling of the league’s 18th franchise comes as the league is considering flipping its calendar to a fall-to-spring season to better align with its European competitors. The decision is expected to be put to a vote later this month when the NWSL Board of Governors convenes. The NWSL Players’ Association last week said a majority of players polled opposed a calendar flip, saying the league is not in a position to do this responsibly.

“MLS deciding to flip their calendar is an important additional consideration,” Berman said. “We currently operate on the same season as MLS, so whether we are starting and ending at the same time as MLS or not, it will continue to be one of the factors that we evaluate in deciding when we should start our season and when we should end our season.”

With Columbus entering the fold, 12 clubs (Angel City FC, Atlanta, Bay FC, Columbus, Gotham FC, Houston Dash, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave, Seattle Reign, Utah Royals and Washington Spirit) by the 2028 season will share a stadium with an MLS side. In some markets, teams share stadiums with lower-division men’s clubs or colleges, as is the case with North Carolina Courage, Chicago Stars FC and Racing Louisville.

Only three buck the trend: the Current, Boston Legacy and Denver Summit FC. They are either already operating, or in the process of building, dedicated stadiums of their own.

“We’ve always been interested in being open to leveraging existing infrastructure,” Berman said. “We never were trying to or insisting on building a stadium where we didn’t think the community would benefit from it, and where it made sense for the NWSL, in this case, both for Columbus and for Atlanta.

“And part of the way we curate our expansion bids is to really be intentional about reflecting a diversity of perspectives. So we’ve always been interested in bringing in investors who represent independent ownership groups, as well as investors who come from a shared ownership group who have experience either with other sports or with MLS teams.”

Last year, Berman announced that expansion would move to a “rolling basis,” meaning the league would evaluate bids as they came in. This format allows the league to expand at its own pace.

Columbus was not part of the most recent round of expansion bids that featured Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver. But its case is cut from a similar cloth: a fast-growing, diverse city with comparatively affordable real estate and room to scale.

“We always evaluate expansion bids through three lenses: ownership, the market and infrastructure, and really all three need to be ready for us to meaningfully consider the bid,” Berman said. As for the next round of expansion teams, nothing is set in stone. “We have not made a decision about any future expansion teams,” she added. “We will continue to consider and meet with potential bids, and based on their readiness and what we believe makes sense for our league will make a decision at some future date.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Columbus Crew, NWSL, Women's Soccer

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