The NWSL has secured nearly $400 million in expansion fees over the last three years, following the addition of a team in Atlanta announced Tuesday evening.
The newest franchise, the league’s 17th, will be controlled by Arthur Blank’s AMB Sports and Entertainment, a multibillion-dollar sports empire that includes the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS club Atlanta United. Blank has agreed to pay a $165 million expansion fee, according to multiple people familiar with the process, by far the largest in league history.
Expansion fees are just one metric that shows the league’s rapid commercial growth over the last five years. When Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC agreed to join back in 2021, both teams paid in the neighborhood of $2 million. That’s about what teams were valued at back then. Since then, however, the prices have risen steeply.
Excluding the return of Utah Royals, which had their own pre-set legacy fee, the four most recent teams have agreed to pay a total of $381 million. That’s $53 million each for Bay FC and Boston Legacy FC, $110 million for Denver Summit FC and $165 million for the Atlanta franchise. Those fees are sometimes paid in one lump sum, and sometimes delivered in installments. Sportico’s most recent NWSL valuations, published more than a year ago, put the average franchise at $104 million.
The news of Atlanta’s selection was first reported by The Athletic. Representatives for both the league and AMB declined to comment on the financials.
League commissioner Jessica Berman said earlier this year that after a series of formal expansion processes, run most recently by Inner Circle Sports, the NWSL was shifting to a rolling process, where teams, cities and prospective owners would be constantly evaluated for inclusion.
Blank very much fits with the mold of many recent NWSL buyers: prominent businessmen and women with extensive sports experience. He’s owned the Falcons since 2002 and Atlanta United since its MLS debut in 2017. Both teams play in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the $1.6 billion venue that AMB operates. The women’s team will also play there starting in 2028.
Blank’s portfolio also includes the Atlanta TGL franchise. His Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has donated $50 million to the construction of a new U.S. Soccer headquarters in Atlanta.
According to the official announcement of the new Atlanta women’s soccer franchise, Blank’s foundation will also provide “seed funding” to launch the NWSL Foundation, which will aim to advance opportunities in women’s sports. No additional specifics were provided.