NWSL awards expansion team to Columbus for record $205 million fee

NWSL is awarding its 18th franchise to Columbus, which will join the league for a record expansion fee of $205 million, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke with The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships. The club, set to begin play in 2028, will be owned by Haslam Sports Group (HSG), Nationwide and Drs. Christine and Pete Edwards. AEP and Ohio Health have come in as founding partners as well.

The expansion fee is nearly double the $110 million Denver Summit FC paid last year, and $40 million higher than the $165 million Arthur Blank paid for the Atlanta 2028 franchise just six months ago. Other recent expansion teams, Bay FC and Boston Legacy, paid around $53 million each.

The Haslams are also the owners of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and MLS’s Columbus Crew and they have a controlling interest in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks. The NWSL franchise is not the first time the family ventured into women’s sports, as a few years ago the Haslams invested in the WNBA at the league level. Like the Crew, the Columbus NWSL team will play its matches at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.

Full financial terms have not been disclosed, but to get the team off the ground, the ownership group is looking at a minimum of $300 million in private investment to cover the expansion fee as well as the full build-out: facilities, staffing, and the infrastructure needed to launch and sustain the club, sources said.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be the 18th team in the league,” HSG’s managing partner Whitney Haslam Johnson, who will be the new franchise’s governor, told The Athletic.

“We’ve been in regular conversations with the NWSL and commissioner Jessica Berman, and through our work in other leagues, we’ve built relationships with a number of owners. We’ve been blown away by Denver opening up with over 60,000 fans. Across the board, fandom, attendance, viewership, the growth is real, and it’s accelerating.

“Being one of 18 teams matters, and we believed it was only a matter of time before Ohio was in the mix. We wanted to be that team, and we’re confident Columbus is the right market for it.”

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. It was expected that a second expansion team would be announced to debut alongside Atlanta by 2028.

Columbus has demonstrated its intention to become an NWSL franchise for some time now.