Welcome to the latest in a series of conversations with smart people who I think provide great perspective on issues in sports.
Linda Logan is a legend in the sports event industry. She has served as the CEO & President of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission since its inception in June 2002 and previously was the director of sports marketing for the Greater Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, now known as Experience Columbus.
She was inducted into the Sports ETA Sports Tourism Hall of Fame in 2025 thanks to her significant contributions to the industry and central Ohio. It’s a big upcoming year for the Columbus region with the Gay Softball World Series, two major NCAA women’s championships and the recent announcement of a National Women’s Soccer League team coming to town.
Adding Soccer to Women’s Portfolio
The National Women’s Soccer League awarded Columbus its 18th expansion franchise, which is slated to begin play in the 2028 season. The club will play its home matches at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, home of Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew.
“It’s been an exciting journey for sure, knowing we have really put a stake in the ground as a destination that really values girls and women in sports. There’re other cities that are doing that, and I think the more the merrier for sure. We also have the Columbus Fury, our professional women’s volleyball team in the market, and they’ve got new ownership and we’re excited about the work that they’re doing. But this new NWSL team, we’re such a great soccer community that we continue just to grow internationally. We just hosted a base camp for the FIFA Men’s World Cup with Ecuador. We just made a big announcement that we’ll be hosting LA28 soccer in Columbus. So (it’s) just a natural fit for us to again shine in the soccer space, and to be able to have this new team that’s really going to be owned by the community in the sense that it’s got the ownership statewide with the Haslam family, who own the Cleveland Browns, the Columbus Crew, and then Nationwide Insurance, who’s headquartered here, have an ownership piece of the team. And they were one of the very first sponsors for the league, so again, that plays so well with what’s happening. And then the Edwards family, who’ve been part of the soccer scene here for a couple of decades. It’s nice to see all three groups coming together and, and the best is yet to come.”
