NEWS | Franklin County Backs NWSL Team with $12M in Community Benefits
Published on April 22, 2026
Board Approves MOU with Columbus Women's Soccer Holdings, Anchoring $12 Million in Community Benefits
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners voted 2-0 on April 21 to authorize a memorandum of understanding with Columbus Women's Soccer Holdings LLC, establishing the framework for a county investment to support bringing a National Women's Soccer League team to Columbus.
Under the MOU, the county would commit up to $25 million over 15 years, funded through non-tax revenues rather than sales tax or general fund dollars. The investment would flow through the Confluence Community Authority, the same financing mechanism used in the original Columbus Crew stadium agreement. In exchange, the NWSL ownership group would be required to remain in Franklin County for approximately 25 years and commit $12 million in private dollars to the county, structured as $1 million per year or more.
Those community benefit dollars are split evenly: $6 million for early childhood learning initiatives and $6 million to address food insecurity, including support for food deserts and cooperative food programs. The county retains clawback provisions, and the annual payments to the Confluence Community Authority are subject to Board approval each year.
First Assistant Jeanine Hummer and bond counsel Emmett Kelly of Frost Brown Todd presented the financing structure at the session. Kelly clarified the distinction between general obligation and non-tax revenue debt, noting that the county's pledge relies on fees and charges collected from service users, not on residents' sales or property taxes. The annual appropriation will not affect the county's general obligation credit standing.
Commissioner Erica C. Crawley moved for approval. Commissioner John O'Grady seconded and voted in favor. Commissioner Kevin L. Boyce abstained. The resolution was adopted.
The MOU establishes terms and conditions for a full development agreement still to come. That agreement will include the training facility for the women's team, improvements to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field required by the NWSL, and the full community benefit commitments. The City of Columbus separately committed to contribute to the facility costs.
Commissioner O'Grady said the community benefits agreement was the condition on which he changed his initial opposition to the deal. "When the ownership group agreed to the community benefits agreement, it became a really good deal on behalf of the residents of this county." He pointed to the county's longer history of sports investments, including Nationwide Arena, the Columbus Crew, and ongoing support through the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.
The Board also heard public comment from four speakers. DJ Burns offered pointed criticism of public subsidies to sports ownership groups. Lisa Rusch and Lindsey Rusch, Columbus small business owners and former soccer coaches, described the economic and community value of a professional women's team.
Linda Logan of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission made the case for Columbus's standing as a soccer city. Cassandra Dickerson Sistrunk, senior director of soccer growth strategy at the U.S. Soccer Federation and a former Ohio State women's soccer captain, connected the investment to the national growth of women's sports and to Columbus's diverse neighborhoods where soccer functions as both sport and community identity.
Later on Tuesday, the National Women's Soccer League officially announced that Columbus would be the home of the league's 18th franchise.