Crew owners get 18th NWSL team for record fee

The NWSL awarded an expansion franchise to Columbus, Ohio, and an ownership consortium led by the Haslam Sports Group. The new Columbus-based team will begin play in 2028.

An NWSL spokesperson told ESPN that the group will pay a $205 million expansion fee for the team.

The new Columbus franchise will join the league alongside a team in Atlanta, which also begins play in 2028, to bring the NWSL to 18 teams.

The NWSL Columbus team will play at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field downtown, where MLS' Columbus Crew play. The Haslam Sports Group (HSG) also owns the Crew.

ScottsMiracle-Gro Field will be renovated ahead of the 2028 season to add a custom locker room for the NWSL team, HSG managing partner Whitney Haslam Johnson told ESPN.

A major piece of the Columbus expansion bid centers around the plan to build a bespoke training facility for the NWSL team on the southwest side of the city. The ownership group is expected to invest around $300 million initially between the expansion fee and infrastructure.

That is in addition to $50 million in government money for the infrastructure -- $25 million from the city and $25 million from Franklin County.

Columbus City Council approved their $25 million funding in a split vote on Monday night after a contentious public meeting. The NWSL team's training site will be at a park that had previously been tabbed by the city to be renovated for adaptive use in an underserved neighborhood.

As part of that tradeoff, the Haslam Sports Group will contribute $3 million to the city's effort to find a replacement location for the park.

The NWSL has expanded rapidly in recent years, from 10 teams in 2021 to 18 by 2028.

Over the same time period, expansion fees have exploded from $2 million to the $205 million paid by the Columbus ownership group. Atlanta, which was awarded team No. 17 in late 2025, paid $165 million, which was a record at the time.

The Columbus ownership group includes the family of Dr. Pete Edwards -- who has a minority stake in the Crew, and recently acquired more shares from HSG -- as well as the Columbus-based insurance company Nationwide.

ESPN reported last month that the Columbus group was seriously exploring an NWSL expansion franchise.

The NWSL recently switched to a "rolling expansion" process to accept prospective teams when they feel the time is right, rather than create deadlines for bids as they did in the past.

Boston Legacy FC and just played their inaugural matches last month to bring the NWSL to 16 teams.