Women's professional sports are experiencing a financial boom like never before, and nowhere is that more evident than in the skyrocketing expansion fees for new teams. Just a few years ago, paying $50 million for a franchise seemed steep. Now, that figure looks like a bargain.

The WNBA kicked off its latest chapter this past weekend with the debut of the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire. When these clubs were announced in 2024, their reported expansion fees—$50 million for Toronto and $75 million for Portland—were already among the highest in women's sports history. But the market has moved fast. In 2025, the NWSL announced clubs in Denver and Atlanta with fees of $110 million and $165 million, respectively. The WNBA responded in kind: last year, a trio of new franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia each paid a staggering $250 million, according to Sportico.

The pace hasn't slowed. In April 2026, the NWSL announced an 18th franchise in Columbus, Ohio, with a record-setting fee of $205 million. To put that into perspective, the WNBA's $250 million fees now rival what NBA expansion teams paid over three decades ago. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies each paid $125 million in the mid-1990s—roughly $275 million in today's dollars. Meanwhile, NBA expansion teams from the 1980s (Charlotte, Miami, Minnesota, and Orlando) paid just $32.5 million each, or about $93 million adjusted for inflation.

Context matters here. The WNBA is currently at 15 teams, while the NBA had 27 franchises when the Raptors and Grizzlies joined in 1995. In soccer, MLS's St. Louis franchise hit the $200 million mark in 2019 as the league's 28th team—a milestone the NWSL reached with 10 fewer teams. When adjusted for inflation, MLS's Nashville franchise (announced in 2017 for $150 million) is the closest comparison to Columbus's $205 million fee.