Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says the public discussion around the city’s investment that helped secure a professional women’s soccer team has lost sight of why the team is important for the city.
Ginther also is slamming City Council President Shannon Hardin and the rest of City Council, saying Hardin negotiated a worse deal than Ginther originally presented to the council.
“Council President Hardin has put his political ambition over the good of the community,” Ginther said. “I believe strongly that when you put these two plans next to each other, there was far greater community benefit and public benefit from my proposal.”
City Hall was embroiled for a month in debate over an arrangement Ginther pitched to invest $25 million for upgrades to ScottsMiracleGro-Field and a new training facility for a professional women’s soccer team at McCoy Park. The park piece, made public months after Ginther’s administration promised the use of the park to investors, received significant backlash from Southwest Side neighbors who had been promised a renovated park.
The mayor then promised to replace the park. Council passed a revised economic development agreement that Hardin says he made better in a 5-3 vote. A day later, the Franklin County Commissioners approved their $25-million contribution, and the NWSL awarded Columbus the team on April 21.
Ginther sat down with The Dispatch on April 29 to discuss the months of behind-the-scenes negotiations that went into the city’s agreement with billionaires Jimmy and Dee Haslam and other private investors in a National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise.
Ginther took the opportunity to give his perspective, saying the team will help reach his and Columbus First Lady Shannon Ginther’s goal of making Columbus the national capital for women’s sports, which he announced in his 2025 State of the City last April. The team will also bring millions of dollars in economic benefits to the community in jobs, visitors and taxes ($118 million for the state over 30 years, per an independent analysis commissioned by the investors).
Ginther also criticized City Council for not being more supportive, alleging a sexist double standard after the council supported investing in saving the city’s Columbus Crew MLS franchise in 2018. This fight between Ginther and Hardin over the NWSL deal is just the latest in a series as Hardin positions himself to possibly challenge Ginther for the mayoral job in 2027.
Hardin said he made the mayor’s deal better by negotiating to fund the city’s investment with a 2% ticket tax increase on those who attend events at ScottsMiracleGro-Field, rather than using capital dollars, and tying the money to the city quickly replacing the 28-acre McCoy Park.
“The most politically expedient thing I could’ve done to differentiate myself from the mayor and a $25 million handout to a billionaire and a team, would’ve been to vote no,” Hardin said. “I took a very bad deal and made it better, and truthfully got hit politically for fixing this deal. It’s silly to say this was a political winner for me.”
Hardin said Ginther has tried to pit women against the Southwest Side community, which Hardin says just wants from the city the park that they were promised. Further responding to Ginther’s accusations about sexism, Hardin said:
“The larger context can not be missed: We are in 2026 dealing with a budget that cut funding to Rec and Parks and the shelter system and underfunded human services. I understand this is the mayor’s top priority right now, but my top priority right now is keeping roofs over people’s heads and keeping food on people’s tables.”
How Ginther’s NWSL deal originated
Ginther said he and his wife were thinking about how they could leave a lasting mark on the city and elevate something important to them when they landed on bringing a women’s professional sports team here, either a WNBA or NWSL team.
Columbus already has a lot of the factors that could support a NWSL team, like a new soccer stadium. The Ginthers first met with Jimmy and Dee Haslam about possibly bringing a women’s soccer team here in June, Ginther said. He also met with Dr. Pete Edwards and Dr. Chris Edwards, and Ginther’s team spoke with Nationwide. The Haslams, the Edwards and Nationwide would eventually become the ownership group of the new franchise.
Ginther said they started having earnest conversations in the fall, including about what the city investment would look like. It’s something the NWSL requires in a highly competitive bid process, city officials have repeatedly said. The city was up against maybe a dozen other cities, including Phoenix, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, said Elon Simms, Ginther’s chief of staff.
Columbus Director of Development Michael Stevens said the city gets involved in deals like these to secure the community’s interests.
In September, when the U.S. Men’s National Team played Japan in Columbus, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman met with the Ginthers and toured the Crew’s stadium and practice facility.
In October, Stevens presented a list of possible locations for the women’s training facility to the Haslam Sports Group. Stevens said McCoy Park was selected because it’s shovel-ready and within a similar driving distance of ScottsMiracleGro-Field compared to the men’s facility, a factor the NWSL considers. The NWSL also required a separate training facility comparable to the men’s.
In December, Stevens said the city and the private investors took a break for three weeks when they were too far apart on agreeing on how much money the private investors would donate back into the community. In the end, the agreement included $12 million from the investors for early childhood education and food insecurity over 12 years.
Ginther’s administration began briefing council members on the agreement his team brokered in February. Stevens said they walked away from those conversations believing they had a path to getting the requisite five yes votes.
Mary Shepro, Crew president of business operations, who has been the face of the Haslam Sports Group’s efforts at City Hall, was not available for an interview on April 30, according to a Crew spokesperson.
The Haslams and Edwards are some of Ginther’s biggest campaign donors.
Ginther and council have contradicting accounts of Ginther’s original pitch
Ginther said his original deal with the ownership group would have used a 2% ticket tax at ScottsMiracleGro-Field immediately for the arts and human services. In Hardin’s renegotiated agreement, the tax will go to human services after the $25 million city investment is paid off.
Hardin said he doesn’t recall what Ginther described being pitched to the council in briefings, and he stands by implementing a user fee for soccer fans instead of costing all taxpayers.
Ginther said Hardin, in renegotiating the deal, walked away from several million dollars for the Columbus Promise, an initiative architected by Hardin that sends Columbus City Schools graduates to Columbus State Community College tuition-free. Ginther also said Hardin passed on the ownership group setting aside about eight acres of McCoy Park for the public in favor of $3 million toward the replacement of the park.
“All because the council president wanted to make this partnership into a political fight,” Ginther said. “Not only did the council president walk away from these community benefits, but indulged in political theater over McCoy Park.”
Ginther said City Council knew about plans for McCoy Park because the council approved the funding for them in 2024. Hardin said the council didn’t realize plans were so far along and the administration also should have known.
Hardin said the council was told they couldn’t do both: use part of McCoy Park and get money for a new site. Hardin said the community deserved the full park promised, which requires a full site. The final deal still includes an agreement to work with the city to provide community access to the park facilities.
Hardin also said he didn’t think the amount for the Columbus Promise was genuine or enough. The next phase of the Columbus Promise calls for $25 million.
In the end, one resident sees little difference between what the mayor and council did. Liz Reed, chair of the Southwest Area Commission, told The Dispatch she’s not happy with the mayor or council for giving away a city park without public discussion.
The Dispatch asked Ginther why he didn’t bring this plan to the public sooner, before The Dispatch first broke the news in March.
“Voters hire a mayor to bring forth the best possible deal for the community,” Ginther said.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Inside the dealmaking and discord behind Columbus’ NWSL negotiations
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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