Columbus City Council Moves to Lock In NWSL Women's Soccer Franchise

Columbus is taking a formal step toward landing a National Women's Soccer League franchise. An ordinance introduced to City Council on April 8 authorizes the city to enter into a development agreement with Franklin County, the Confluence Community Authority, and NWSL Columbus LLC — referred to in the legislation as NEWCO — to finance and build the facilities the NWSL requires as a condition of awarding a franchise to Columbus.

The agreement has two main infrastructure components. The first is a new training facility, which the city and Recreation and Parks Department would lease to the Confluence Community Authority under terms contemplated in the development deal. The second is modifications to an existing stadium — widely understood to be Lower.com Field, the downtown venue that already hosts the Columbus Crew — to meet NWSL standards. The Confluence Community Authority, which was created to manage the financing and operations around the Crew's stadium district, would play a central role in both projects.

The ordinance also authorizes the city to make a capital contribution toward the training facility through the Confluence CMA, and adds the training facility property to the authority's community district under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 349 — a mechanism that allows tax increment financing and other public funding tools to be applied to development within the district.

The legislation was referred to the Economic Development & Small and Minority Business Committee after its first reading on April 13. It must clear committee and pass a full council vote before the agreement is executed. The ordinance lists the total cost as $0.00, meaning the specific dollar figures for the city's capital contribution will be established separately, likely through a companion appropriations ordinance or within the development agreement itself.

An NWSL expansion to Columbus would make the city one of a growing number of markets with both a top-flight men's and women's soccer club. The Crew, Columbus's MLS franchise, won the MLS Cup in 2020 and plays at Lower.com Field in the Short North neighborhood. A women's counterpart would add to a downtown sports district that has become one of the region's most active development corridors.