In an attempt to attract a National Women's Soccer League team to Columbus, the majority owners of the Columbus Crew and the Cleveland Browns, billionaires Jimmy and Dee Haslam, have turned to Columbus City Council and Franklin County with a $50 million ask.
Members of city council were briefed on a plan a few weeks ago supported by Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther for a private-public partnership where the council and Franklin County would each contribute $25 million towards a proposed training facility at McCoy Park at 600 Stimmel Road and an upgrade to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer told WOSU.
Day-Achauer said it was explained that the Haslam Sports Group wanted to bring a professional NWSL team to Columbus, and they would play at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, where a locker room would need to be added to the stadium and a separate training facility and playing fields built.
Day-Achauer would love to have a professional women’s soccer team playing at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, she said.
“But then they told us about the financial commitment that was being expected of the City of Columbus and Franklin County, that they wanted $25 million from our capital budget to go to this,” Day-Achauer said. “And I was an emphatic ‘no’ about essentially giving taxpayer dollars to billionaires to help them bring the team.”
Columbus has shown that it is a big supporter of sports, including women’s sports, as the city will let the Haslams use McCoy Park, Day-Achauer said, but she was firm that she would not approve taxpayer dollars to be used for the training facility and renovations.
Councilmember Nick Bankston, chair of the Finance & Governance Committee and the Economic Development & Small Business Committee, said the construction of the training facility falls under capital eligible expense, and he is also open to any form of financing that doesn’t impact the capital budget to support this “generational opportunity.”
“This will have, I believe, tremendous economic benefit to our city overall, from the jobs created, the generation of income and sales tax from the stadium, the impacts on small businesses, now activating our stadium twice as much,” Bankston said. “There's so many, as folks may know, local small businesses, vendors at the stadium who are part of concessions and do everything at that status [that] are now activating that twice. There will be, I think, huge economic benefits to our community. At the end of the day, this will pay for it itself. And that is the goal, is to ensure that however we invest and whatever vehicle we take, that there's a true return on investment for the people of Columbus.”
Bankston said he is looking at a combination of financing tactics that may not put all the pressure on the capital budget, like admission taxes on ticket and user fees.
City Council President Shannon Hardin said in an email $25 million to the Haslams is “$25M less for sidewalks, affordable housing, rec centers, and a lot more.”
“That’s a nonstarter for me,” Hardin said. “Council just amended the tightest city budget in a decade. We scraped together just enough money to keep homeless shelters open and reverse cuts to human services and community health centers. I can’t look residents in the eye who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and turn around and approve a payment to billionaires. I want to bring the team here, but we have to do it responsibly. That’s why I’m meeting with leaders later this week to come up with other creative solutions for how the city can make it happen.”
Rob McBurnett, a Haslam Sports Group spokesperson, said in an email the Haslam group, Nationwide, Dr. Chris and Dr. Pete Edwards — current minority owners of the Crew — are “passionate about bringing an NWSL team to Columbus.”
“Sports leagues comprehensively assess each market during a highly competitive process when awarding an expansion team, and having the full support of public-private partnership is among the key factors,” McBurnett said. “Our community has seen the benefits of public-private collaboration within and beyond sports in our region, and we recognize that same unified approach further strengthens our position to secure a professional women’s soccer team in Central Ohio.”
McBurnett said the group has engaged with local government officials to find the best solution for Columbus to advance its bid for an NWSL club.
Day-Achauer, who is also the chair of the Neighborhoods, Recreation and Parks Committee, said despite McCoy Park being offered up for the training facility location, she and the Recreation and Parks department will work closely with the Haslam group to ensure that a section of the park would be reserved for the community.
“Rec and Park feels confident that they could work with the Haslam group to ensure that a section of that park could be reserved for the community,” Day-Achauer said. “That community doesn't have parks and playgrounds and whatnot. They really need to have that, and with the training center there, disrupting that community with all the traffic and whatnot that would be going on, to give them part of that park seems like a reasonable trade off.”
The NWSL may value a public-private partnership because it shows buy-in from the community, Bankston said.
"That's a factor that they look at,” Bankston said. “But if I had to guess, it's because they want to see that their local, both officials and community stakeholders, are equally invested in not only investing in the team, but also the team's success.”
Ginther said in an email he believes Columbus can emerge “as the nation’s capital for girl’s and women’s sports.”
“That means backing women’s excellence with the same seriousness and resources we’ve long afforded men’s sports,” Ginther said. “Our city has a strong track record of public-private partnerships that create opportunity for our residents, and I believe we can both support a team and foster equitable economic growth and opportunity. A scarcity mindset will keep us standing still, but through collaboration, we have an opportunity to show our girls and women that their city believes in them and their dreams.”
Franklin County Administrator Kenneth Wilson said in an email that he is in “ongoing discussions with the Haslam Sports Group about the possibility of a public/private partnership.”
“Informally, the Haslam Sports Group has asked the County for funding for a new women’s soccer performance center and NWSL-level improvements to Scotts Miracle-Gro Stadium,” Wilson said in an email. “Whether the administration brings this to the BOC for official consideration will depend on the financial implications associated with county involvement. It would require significant material public benefit to the county's economic vitality, workforce development, advancing gender equity, and contributions to important health and human services initiatives.”