Columbus And Billionaire Haslams Land NWSL Expansion Franchise For $205 Million

BusinessSportsMoneyEditors' PickColumbus And Billionaire Haslams Land NWSL Expansion Franchise For $205 MillionAlready the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and MLS’s Columbus Crew, along with a stake in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, Jimmy Haslam led the group acquiring the NWSL’s 18th team in an expansion bid.Chris Unger/Getty ImagesByBrett Knight,Assistant Managing Editor. Brett Knight is an assistant managing editor covering sports business.Follow AuthorApr 21, 2026, 03:30pm EDTTo join the fast-growing women’s soccer league, a group led by the owners of MLS’s Crew and the NFL’s Browns is paying $40 million more than Atlanta’s winning bid from just five months ago.@font-face{font-family: "Highlander"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/highlander/highlander-bold.woff2") format("woff2"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Merriweather"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-bold-webfont.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-bold-webfont.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Graphik"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-bold.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-bold.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Highlander"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/highlander/highlander-regular.woff2") format("woff2"); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Merriweather"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-regular-webfont.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-regular-webfont.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Graphik"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-regular.woff2") forma...