The Weekly Dis
A deep dive into Haslam Sports Group's bid for an NWSL expansion franchise, the week that was and much more
In the world of professional sports, the process of bidding for an expansion franchise normally includes an expansive PR campaign with calls to action to energize a fan base and politicians flitting in and out of the picture.
Such was not the case with Columbus' compressed bid for a National Women's Soccer League expansion team. A vague idea of interest surfaced in late February. It was followed by a scramble to spread the word. Allez! The league may be announcing the winning bid by the end of May. Bing-bam-boom.
Morgan Hughes, erstwhile spokesperson for #SaveTheCrew, and I talked about it on an episode of The Crewcible on March 11. We talked about it in the context of, "This just popped up out of nowhere. What's going on? Why does this have the feel of a final push?"
We speculated that Cincinnati, Cleveland and St. Louis might be other cities to have submit bids. We were just spitballing. This is closely guarded information, a testament to the opacity of the entire process. Red flag?
Sixteen days after we recorded that pod, all is not clear, but at least there is a better understanding of this issue. Reporting by the Columbus Dispatch, among other outlets, has helped.
From Wednesday's Dispatch:
Nationwide Insurance's CEO said young girls in Columbus need more athletes to look up to, and a professional women's soccer team is the way to give them that.
The 100-year-old insurance company is seeking part-ownership of a NWSL team with Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the billionaire majority owners of the Columbus Crew and the Cleveland Browns, along with Dr. Chris Edwards and Dr. Pete Edwards.
The group is asking the city and Franklin County to invest $25 million each for a total of $50 million in taxpayer dollars for facilities to lure a yet-to-be-determined team to central Ohio, The Dispatch first reported.
You know the final tush-push is on when the C-suite at Nationwide, already a sponsor of NWSL, is talking out loud about bringing a team to CBus, and owning a piece of it. More from the Dispatch:
"We want to have girls and young ladies to be able to celebrate heroes as well," Kirt Walker, CEO of Nationwide Insurance since 2019, said in a March 25 interview. Columbus has plenty of male sports teams for boys to admire, he noted, but there's something "really unique" about having female role models for young female athletes.
Reports in Columbus Underground, Axios, and the Dispatch paint a picture of the process. I include a few brush strokes of my own reporting. Let's get into it.
Soccer city
Columbus successfully pitched the 2028 L.A. Olympics Organizing Committee to bring nine Olympic tournament games to the city. The package includes a knockout-stage game on the men's side and two group-stage games on the women's side.
Part of the city's pitch to the organizing committee was a proposed training facility to be built on the site of McCoy Park on the Southwest Side. The proposed facility is also part of the NWSL bid. It may be integral to both.
On the fringe of all of this is the newly completed Kilbourne Run Sports Park in the Northland area. Remember the "Community Park" the Haslams promised when they solicited infrastructure money from the city for the new Crew stadium? Those plans went awry with the state and were replaced, more or less, by Kilbourne Run, a $40-million project. The cost was covered by the city ($29 million, give or take) and the Haslams (around $11 million).
Kilbourne Run Sports Park
Sign the petition if you wish
But read on before you do
The old #SaveTheCrew crew, including Hughes, has been activated.
The last time there was a sign-able pledge of support for soccer in this city it ended up being a big factor in things going our way. So believe me when I say you need to sign this. And get your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors to sign this. #Crew96 #NWSLtoCBUS nwsltocbus.com
— John Zidar (@john-zidar.bsky.social) 2026-03-20T13:28:21.647Z
If you want to sign the petition, just click on the link posted by John Zidar last weekend. Zidar, by the way, was the creative director and lead designer for #SaveTheCrew.
Where things stand
It's a World Cup year, the U.S. (along with Canada and Mexico) is playing host and a generational opportunity to generate interest in American soccer is presenting itself.
Next year, Major League Soccer will flip its schedule to line up with other leagues around the world; having an NWSL team as a summer tenant for the new Crew stadium, a first-rate venue, makes sense. If all of this comes together, an optimistic sort might say that Columbus has a chance to build on its long history with the men's and women's game and become one of America's soccer capitals.
In the middle of all of this is Haslam Sports Group's pursuit of a public park and its request for public subsidies to help finance the facility they want to build on the parkland.
HSG is looking for $50 million in public subsidies – $25 million from the city and $25 million from the county. For what? According to a Crew spokesperson, the money is intended for infrastructure and facility construction at the proposed HSG training grounds, and for a new locker room at the new Crew stadium that is "up to the standards of the Crew's home locker room."
Negotiations between HSG, the Edwards family, the city, county and the Recreation and Parks Department are ongoing.
If the city contributes $50 million in public funds, how much will HSG contribute for the training facility? Negotiations are ongoing.
Is HSG buying McCoy Park as part of this deal, or will the city still own the land? Negotiations are ongoing.
City Council president Shannon Hardin sets the agenda for council meetings. Ultimately, he will decide whether and when the issue is put to our municipal representatives.
“As a Columbus Crew fan and as someone who helped to save the Crew, I’m really excited about the possibility of bringing a women’s team to Columbus,” Hardin told the Dispatch. “But anything that takes away from our ability to build rec centers and fire stations and gives it to a billionaire-owned team is a nonstarter for me.”
Thoughts, observations and inside dope:
- Columbus native and former Crew president/GM Tim Bezbatchenko has been running Black Knight Football Club, based in Bournemouth, England, for the past two years. Rumors have been circulating that he may be returning to the Crew front office this summer. In the very strict context of the subject matter at hand, the rumors of his return make more sense if HSG adds an NWSL team to its portfolio.
- In the grand scheme of things, $25 million is not a lot of money to support a project that could have a substantially positive impact on the city. That said, and as Hardin indicated, fraught are the politics of giving public money to billionaires for the sake of a "public-private partnership." The decision could tip on a single vote.
- Sources with knowledge of this issue and of local politics said that if the capital budget is not touched, the HSG proposal has a chance. As one of my favorite readers, who is not one of my main sources on this issue, says: "I could see them moving some Parks & Rec money around or increasing the TIF (tax increment financing) on the existing stadium."
- Hardin and Mayor Andrew Ginther, a huge booster of the HSG training facility proposal and the NWSL bid, are not besties. During rounds with the local media late this week, Ginther touted that the Haslams intend to invest $400 million to $450 million to land the NWSL team. As far as I know, it marked the first time anyone involved has talked about what HSG plans to invest. (This, too, speaks to the opacity of this entire operation.)
- Hardin appears to hold the cards here. He likes the idea of the HSG facility/NWSL bid. In his stewardship of tax dollars, does he have a creative solution? Source: "I'm more optimistic this week than I was last week."
- If this manages to squeak through the City Council, then the Franklin County Commissioners are likely to follow suit and come through with the other $25 million. They'll have the cover to do it.
- Given the significant heft behind all of this – from Nationwide to HSG to the Edwards family to Ginther – and the apparent interest expressed by the NWSL for a bid that seemed to pop up out of nowhere in late February ... it may well be that the train has enough steam to reach the station regardless of the politics involved at the city and county level.
- Does Jimmy Haslam really need our money? That's always an important question. Here's one answer that may resonate with you:
I am against the professional women’s soccer deal in Columbus as things currently stand. Here’s why:
— The Rooster (@rooster.info) 2026-03-27T22:16:37.721Z
Posts
I endeavor to write M-W-F for paid subscribers and The Weekly Dis, free to all, for Saturday. Most weeks, like this one, I stick to the rhythm. Some weeks, there is additional content. One of these days, I'll have to go to a wedding and I might miss a shift.
Monday:
The Blue Jackets' 12-game point streak comes to an end.
Meanwhile, the Crew drop to 0-3-2 under new coach Henrik Rydström, and fans of the Black & Gold have a two-week international break to stew, and stew, and stew over what the hell they've been watching.
It's a hard go right now. There is reason for fans to be agitated. That said, there is time for the coach to find solutions and get the team within striking distance of the playoffs. The Blue Jackets have taught us that much. In the case of the Crew, it doesn't have to mean firing the coach. Columbus isn't Glasgow.
I have a lot of patience for Rydström. I think he's an excellent fit for Columbus. I think he has game. And I believe in him.
Michael Arace
Wednesday:
And the march continues. The Jackets got right back up after their 12-game unbeaten streak was snapped on the Island Sunday night. They are 20-3-4 since Jan. 11 (and 19-3-4 since Rick Bowness took over for Dean Evason a day later). Some of the numbers they're putting up are nuts.
Is there a "Z" in Norris?
Michael Arace
Friday:
The Blue Jackets (38-23-11) lost two games they could've won, or at least gotten to overtime, with just a bit of luck. They took two of a possible six points out of this week's road trip, but their level of play has remained consistently high. Heading into the weekend, they were still holding down third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Michael Arace
From the A/V department
Here's a snippet from the interview I did with a local treasure, Apple TV MLS play-by-play man Neil Sika.
Yes, Neil was paid for his appearance in metballs (homemade) with pappardelle (store-bought), my red sauce (homemade) and a side salad (out of a bag). Is that a comma in TheDisrespected.com? I've fired my copy editor.
And here's the full interview. Mind you, I take Neil all over the place (and vice-versa).
Strip mall restaurant fare
Clockwise from top left: Laura (foreground) and Eric Dennison (in back at the flattop, wearing the hat) deliver the deliciousness; the front counter at Newfangled, which is carry-out only since Covid (although some sidewalk seating is available); their store is a couple doors down from the Drexel Theater; their website features Eric's specialty, meatloaf sandwiches, on its cover page (photo from NewfangledKitchen.com); view from behind the counter, looking out to Capital University across the street; the grilled bologna sandwichesm are more commonly served on white bread, but check the specials board). I mean to take my own picture of the Chatty Kathy, but I ate it. The sandwich. And, i guess, the photo.
My oldest daughter, a brown-bag-toting, public-school French teacher, knows her way around a kitchen. Last week, she bought a rotisserie chicken and hacked Newfangled Kitchen to recreate the Chatty Kathy – chicken salad, lettuce, tomato, bacon, honey-mustard dijon on marbled rye.
Newfangled Kitchen is located at 2258 E. Main St. in Bexley, a couple of doors down from Drexel Theater, within walking distance of where I live. It's not in a mid-century strip mall, so it's not exactly part of the vibe I'm going for with my periodic restaurant recommendations. But when one of your kids is attempting to recreate the Chatty Kathy, it's past time to say something.
Last year, Yelp rated Newfangled the best sandwich shop in the state.
Laura and Eric Dennison, the proprietors, opened the place in 2018. I've been a semi-regular customer from the start. I'd go every day, but it's one of those places that is an indulgence.
It's not an indulgence because of the prices. Indeed, their prices are reasonable, especially if you skip the gourmet kettle chips and the boutique sodas. During this Second Gilded Age of war, rising gas prices, increasing unemployment, and a stressed economy that's ready to tank, Newfangled's prices are quite reasonable.
It's an indulgence because if I ate a Shipyard Tunamelt every time I have a craving for one, which is every two hours, I'd need regular blood transfusions to counteract the rising mercury levels in my body.
I've eaten just about everything on the menu. Not all at once, mind you, although the temptation is there, but over a span of eight years. I've crushed The Potsie, vaporized the Reubens, Went Down to Georgia with the Devil, gobsmacked Lucifer's Hammer, hoovered up the Barnyard Caviar, and so on down the line. The fare ranges from excellent to spectacular.
Sometimes, I have to just pass by the place without ducking in to say hello to Laura, because my cardiologist isn't on call. Or, I'll opt for the Swiss Schroom Melt, or the small garden salad with a side of potato salad, and think about skipping the potato salad. Delicious.
Is Newfangled the best sandwich shop in Ohio? I don't know. It's a big state, and it includes Cleveland. Right here in Columbus we have, among other places, the German Village standards – The Brown Bag Deli, a little joint with a tasty, bean-sprout fringe to it, and Katzinger's Delicatessen, which is NYC traditional. They bring their own flavors. They're both outstanding, though you might have to wait for your income-tax refund to go to Katzinger's.
I'm sure your favorite sandwich shop has a certain hook you gladly swallow. My favorite is walkable for me. Check it out. Recently, Eric and Laura expanded their hours. There's parking on the street, or you can get away with throwing your car into the Giant Eagle Marketplace lot next to the Drexel.
Good stuff here. Nice people.
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Michael Arace
