Oct. 28 – After paying $205 million to secure Columbus’ spot as the NWSL’s 18th franchise, the Haslam Sports ownership group has now unveiled plans for another $50 million training camp, another sign of how quickly money is flowing into the women’s game in the United States.
Renderings released Monday show a 45,000-square-foot facility built specifically for Columbus’ new team, which will begin play in 2028. Ground is expected to break ground this week at McCoy Park, with completion expected in January 2028, just in time for the club’s inaugural season and after the Los Angeles Olympic summer.
The investment puts Columbus’ proposed base in territory typically associated with elite men’s clubs across the pond. In comparison, Liverpool’s AXA training center cost around £50m, Tottenham’s training base around £45m, while Manchester United recently spent £50m redeveloping the men’s first team facility at Carrington.
The Columbus venue, named the OhioHealth Training Grounds, will serve as the club’s main performance base and underlines the scale of ambition behind the expansion. OhioHealth is the new Official Healthcare Partner of the NWSL and already has a long-standing relationship with the Columbus Crew, having been associated with the MLS club since 1997.
The facility itself has been touted as best in class and looks the part. The plans include three grass pitches, high-end gym equipment, multiple changing rooms, recovery pools, a sauna and a wider suite of wellness and rehabilitation spaces designed specifically for elite athletes.
The NWSL finished the 2025 season with 14 clubs before expanding again for 2026 with Boston Legacy and Denver Summit. Columbus and Atlanta City FC will follow in 2028, although Columbus paid a much higher price for the ticket than Atlanta, which reportedly joined for $165 million just a few months earlier. Commissioner Jessica Berman has already made it clear that the league intends to reach 20 teams.
Haslam Sports Group, which also owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew, is buying into the broader boom around women’s sports, one now measured not just in expansion fees but in long-term bricks, mortar and infrastructure.
The scale of the undertaking is especially striking when compared to the men’s operation across the city. Its 45,000-square-foot OhioHealth Performance Center, opening in 2021, had a reported construction cost of $22.5 million and a total project cost of about $34 million. Columbus’ new NWSL is expected to cost another $16 million.
The two will share ScottsMiracle-Gro Field when the women join their league in 2028.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)
