The league’s 18th club arrives with a record fee, a ready-made stadium, and a public debate that says as much about modern women’s soccer as the expansion itself.
Columbus is officially joining the National Women’s Soccer League in 2028, giving the league an 18th club and extending a period of rapid expansion that now looks less like an early growth push and more like a competition for position in American sports. The ownership group is led by Haslam Sports Group, with Nationwide and Drs. Christine and Pete Edwards also involved. The club will play at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, while its permanent name, colors, and crest are still to come.
The price of entry explains much of the attention around the deal. Multiple outlets reported that Columbus paid a record $205 million expansion fee, a sharp rise from the $165 million attached to Atlanta’s franchise and the $110 million reported for Denver. In practical terms, women’s soccer is no longer being valued like an emerging niche. Investors are paying a premium for access now, not waiting for the sport to prove itself later.
That rise does not exist in isolation. It lands in a market where spending on talent has accelerated, too, as shown in the most expensive female football transfers of all time. Franchise values and player values are not the same thing, but they are moving in the same direction.
Columbus also checks nearly every box the modern NWSL wants from an expansion market. There is an established soccer infrastructure through the Crew, a downtown soccer-specific stadium, a wealthy lead ownership group, and a Fortune 100 company with direct ties to both the city and the league. Nationwide said the new club would share a world-class stadium environment and be supported by a women-specific training facility, while the Crew described the project as part of a long-term investment in elite facilities and youth development.
The timing matters, too. Columbus is entering a league that already has a national media-rights deal with ESPN, CBS Sports, Prime Video, and Scripps worth $60 million annually through 2027. By the time the club begins play, it will be arriving after years of stronger television visibility, rising sponsorship interest, and a labor structure that gives players more leverage over where they play. It is also moving into view just ahead of the 2026 World Cup, when soccer’s place in the American sports calendar will come under even brighter light.
The public cost of a private bet
That shift may shape the club more than any branding rollout. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the NWSL no longer uses the old expansion-draft model, and broader free-agency rules have changed the way teams build. Columbus is not simply buying a place in the league. It is buying the chance to become a destination in a competition where players have more say, guaranteed contracts carry more weight, and facilities can influence recruitment as much as market size.
The Columbus franchise arrived only after the city and Franklin County each committed $25 million toward a new training facility and stadium upgrades, with the broader plan tied to McCoy Park and to improvements required for NWSL standards. The legislation says the added public support would be repaid through a two-point increase in the city admissions fee for events at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, while private investors would cover remaining costs.
That funding structure turned the expansion bid into a local debate over more than soccer. Neighbors and city officials raised concerns about using parkland that had already been associated with long-promised community improvements. Columbus City Council ultimately approved the measure by a 5 to 3 vote, with one abstention, and the amended plan included a working group, a public meeting, a report on replacement amenities, and a $3 million philanthropic contribution from the ownership group.
Those details matter because they keep the piece from slipping into simple celebration. Columbus is a logical soccer market. It hosted the 2003 Women’s World Cup, has a long association with the U.S. women’s national team, and will stage the 2026 NWSL Challenge Cup before the new club ever plays a league match. Still, the city did not secure this franchise through tradition alone. It secured it with capital, infrastructure, and political backing, at a moment when the league can afford to be selective.
Seen this way, Columbus is less an exception than a marker of where the NWSL is headed. Expansion is getting more expensive. Facility standards are getting higher. Ownership groups are getting wealthier. Public-private partnerships are becoming more central to bids. The next phase of women’s soccer in the United States will not be built only on attendance and goodwill. It will be built on who can finance elite environments, persuade players, and convince a city that the long-term payoff is worth the upfront cost. Columbus has now made one of the largest bets the league has seen.
