NWSL Will Add Its 18th Team in Columbus The city and county just approved $50 million in public funding for the training facility and team.

The NWSL added a new expansion team in Columbus today.

"This is a city that has long been at the heart of American soccer," said commissioner Jessica Berman.

Expansion fees for 2026 & 2028 clubs:

Boston: $53M
Denver: $110M
Atlanta: $165M
Columbus: $205M frontofficesports.com/nwsl-columbu...

The NWSL is making a "major announcement on the future of soccer in Columbus" this afternoon at 3:30PM ET.

Commissioner Jessica Berman, members of the bidding ownership group, local officials, and the Crew are all attending.

New Jersey World Cup Games Will Have a $150 Train and $80 Bus New Jersey officials do not want to cover the transit costs for World Cup fans this summer.

Today I went to New Jersey Transit's press briefing where they announced $150 round-trip World Cup train tickets, and the host committee unveiled an $80 shuttle bus.

The details behind the high prices, and FIFA's spicy response, in the story below:
frontofficesports.com/nj-transit-b...

A judge approved Grand Slam Track's plan to exit bankruptcy today.

GST will pay 70% of what it owes athletes and 14% to vendors. Then it'll try to start over—whether it can is another thing.

Full story, including how some athletes almost gave up money: frontofficesports.com/grand-slam-t...

NWSL Moves to Restrict Which Brands Players Can Wear on the Field The NWSL wants brands to cut a deal with the league to have their marks shown on TV.

NEW: The NWSL is working on a policy where brands have to make a deal with the league for players to wear their cleats without covering logos or being fined.

Nike & Adidas are in, but players have existing deals other brands, too. The WNBA has a similar rule. frontofficesports.com/nwsl-brand-d...

Why Did FIFA Do a Deal With an Obscure Prediction Market? The World Cup’s official prediction market is a UAE-backed company licensed to operate in Gibraltar. Experts say the deal raises questions.

When FIFA announced its new prediction-market partner last week, experts told us they'd never heard of ADI Predictstreet. Turns out, it hasn't launched yet.

My colleague Ben Horney and I did some digging. Here's what we found.

frontofficesports.com/fifa-world-c...

House Dem. Says DHS Is Intentionally Withholding World Cup Money “I don’t have any doubt that they are using that for political reasons,” Rep. Nellie Pou told FOS in an interview.

I interviewed Rep. Nellie Pou, who represents the district in New Jersey where the World Cup final will be played.

She told me DHS is "100%" withholding federal security funds from World Cup host cities for political reasons amid the shutdown.

frontofficesports.com/nellie-pou-t...

No Iran Soccer Staff at FIFA Event With World Cup Future Unclear Trump said Thursday he doesn’t care if Iran plays in the tournament.

Iran didn't go to FIFA's planning meetings this week. Trump said "I really don't care" if Iran is at the World Cup. FIFA wants everybody involved.

On Iran's unclear World Cup future, with weigh-in from some political experts:

frontofficesports.com/trump-iran-w...

7 Biggest Questions For World Cup With 100 Days Until Kickoff Geopolitics and funding are dominating World Cup conversations with 100 days until the tournament starts this summer.

100 days to go until the World Cup!

Here are seven major questions that still need to be answered ahead of the tournament:

frontofficesports.com/world-cup-qu...

Iran’s World Cup Future Unclear After Attacks The joint attacks by Israel and the U.S., one of the World Cup host nations, killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's World Cup future is uncertain following Saturday's attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

The president of the Iranian soccer federation: “What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”

frontofficesports.com/irans-world-...

New story from the Epstein files: his foundation gave $60K to a MD girls soccer powerhouse between 2004 and 2006.

This happened around the time prosecutors say he abused underage girls, and during an investigation into those crimes in Florida.

Full story here: frontofficesports.com/epstein-mary...

How DHS Shutdown Is Blocking Hundreds of Millions From World Cup Last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act was supposed to send $625 million to the World Cup cities. They haven't received it yet.

Kristi Noem says FEMA was in the "final stages" of reviewing World Cup grant applications before this month's DHS shutdown.

As the World Cup gets closer, cities still don't have the hundreds of millions worth of federal funding earmarked for security.

frontofficesports.com/world-cup-dh...

I'm excited to share that starting today I'll be focusing on soccer for FOS!

It's a huge year for the sport in the US and I'll mostly cover the World Cup, but I'm also pumped to write about the NWSL, MLS & Europe.

Football friends, reach out! ✉️: margaret@frontofficesports.com

LA28 Stands By Casey Wasserman After Reviewing Epstein Ties "Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” the executive committee of the LA28 board said.

LA28 confirms Casey Wasserman will remain chair of its organizing committee.

"We found Mr. Wasserman's relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented."

Earlier today, Abby Wambach quit his agency.
frontofficesports.com/abby-wambach...

Washington Post Eliminates Sports Department in Mass Layoffs The Jeff Bezos-owned paper is cutting hundreds of jobs and getting rid of its sports section.

The Washington Post shuttered its sports department this morning.

Our story on the layoffs and the many sports journalists who were impacted:

frontofficesports.com/washington-p...

All the Sports Figures in the Latest Epstein Emails New documents released by the DOJ show a number of major pro sports team owners emailed Epstein or were mentioned in his emails.

We've been tracking all the major sports figures whose names appear in the latest batches of Epstein files. We'll keep updating this story as we know more.

frontofficesports.com/epstein-spor...

Secret Service Reveals More About Spending on Trump’s Sports Travel The Secret Service expensed $561,842.63 for the president’s February trip to the Dayton 500, as he continues to travel the nation for sports.

As Trump has increased his sports travel, I've been asking the Secret Service how much it costs for him to attend these events.

The Daytona 500 is the priciest trip so far at $560K. Including the Super Bowl, the agency spent ~$800K for 2025's first 4 events. frontofficesports.com/trump-secret...

'No Media Here': UCLA Women's Coach Rips Lack of Coverage Several outlets covered the game remotely, but only a small handful attended the game in Columbus and didn’t stay for the UCLA media availability.

I've connected with local reporters from the game Cori Close blasted for having "no media."

These reporters didn't need a UCLA presser for their stories, but Close's point—why no one was there to ask UCLA questions after the top-20 matchup—remains.

frontofficesports.com/ucla-ohio-st...

Investors Keep Grand Slam Track Alive With 8-Figure Lifeline The cash will help Grand Slam pay off a portion of its debts, including half of what it owes athletes, but doesn’t fully bail out the league.

Investors have provided Grand Slam Track with up to 8-figures in emergency financing.

It's not enough to pay all of the league's debts, but GST sent athletes half of what they are owed this morning. Next they'll turn to vendors.

Exclusive for FOS:

frontofficesports.com/grand-slam-t...

Trump's Brief Super Bowl Visit Cost Secret Service More Than $120K Records obtained by FOS show the Secret Service spent at least $120,000 on the president's five-hour visit.

Trump became the first president to attend the Super Bowl this year, and his 5 1/2 hour trip to New Orleans cost the Secret Service at least $120,000 in payments to hotels and the NFL.

New docs offer a window into the costs of Trump's sports-heavy second term:
frontofficesports.com/trump-super-...

MLS Says Columbus Fans Can Fly Palestinian Flag After 2-Year Ban The league gave Crew fans an exemption after their team paid a $7.5 million transfer fee to sign Palestinian forward Wessam Abou Ali.

Yesterday we reported that MLS has granted an exemption to the supporters group of the Columbus Crew to display a Palestinian flag for their team's new striker, Wessam Abou Ali.

MLS has banned Israeli and Palestinian flags since 2023.

frontofficesports.com/mls-columbus...

Grand Slam Track Admits It Is 'Struggling' To Pay Athletes The running startup said it would pay athletes $3 million by a July 31 deadline. Two weeks later, runners have not been paid, and Grand Slam’s future is in doubt.

Weeks ago, Grand Slam Track said the $3 million it owed athletes was coming "imminently."

Those payments have not been made, the league admits it's "struggling" to make them, and its future is in doubt. Some new reporting with @margaretfleming.bsky.social frontofficesports.com/grand-slam-t...

Does the trial mark a referendum on the most insidious parts of the sport, or another entry in its long history of violence?

“This wasn’t about five men in a hotel room. It was about a kind of illness that’s produced through generations of men’s hockey and men’s hockey culture,” says one expert.

Where Does Hockey Go After the Hockey Canada Verdict? The trial brought more attention than ever to a long history of sexual violence, but a massive split remains over the sport’s path forward.

Hi Bluesky! I finally made an account so I could share this story.

The Hockey Canada allegations exposed the sport's dark history of abuse, then the verdict fractured the hockey world. Where does hockey go from here?

Free to read on Front Office Sports ⬇️

frontofficesports.com/after-hockey...