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Everyone watches women’s sports. That’s the message that’s been displayed on T-shirts throughout basketball, soccer and tennis matches worldwide. Now there will be more opportunities to do so as the WNBA officially announced its expansion today. Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia were awarded new franchises, bringing the league to a record 18 teams.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the three new teams at a press conference in New York. While Detroit and Cleveland mark a return to previous franchises in the cities, Philadelphia is a brand-new team for the league. Cleveland will make its debut in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Already announced franchises, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, will enter the league next year.
The league’s newest expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries, has already earned the top team valuation in the WNBA, has a record over .500, and has coined the mostly sold-out Chase Center as ‘Ballhalla,’ given the team’s already rabid following.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” Engelbert said. “This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”
Each new WNBA team is owned by the NBA franchise owners who paid $250M for the privilege. In Cleveland, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s NBA and WNBA teams will play at Rocket Arena and practice at an existing facility in Independence, Ohio. In Detroit, Pistons owner Tom Gores’ teams will play at Little Caesars Arena, and a practice facility will be built for the WNBA team. In Philadelphia, the teams owned by Josh Harris (who also owns the Commanders) will play in a new arena to be built specifically for the Sixers and the WNBA team who will share the existing practice facility in Camden.
The short-lived Philadelphia Rage played less than a season in the ’90s in the American Basketball League before folding in 1998. (If you’re curious about the Philadelphia Freedoms of the Elton John song, they were a tennis team in the World Team Tennis league that folded in 2021.)
Grant Hill, Jared Goff and Chris Webber hold minority ownership stakes in the Detroit team. Dawn Staley and Wanda Sykes are among the sports and entertainment figures who have championed the Philadelphia team and expressed interest in possible ownership stakes. However, Englebert told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Staley’s current position as the coach of an NCAA team would create a “conflict of interest” issue.
Though Detroit had both the Rockers and the Shock as WNBA team names, owners say they will reset to decide if one of those names will return or if they will go with a new one. Harris says the Philadelphia franchise will seek fan input as it decides on a name.
More than ten cities submitted bids for a new WNBA franchise, including Nashville, Kansas City, Houston and Charlotte. Houston was one of the WNBA’s inaugural teams, winning four championships in the ’90s with stars Cynthia Cooper, Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes.
“We didn’t know the demand would be where the demand ended up when we ran the process last fall into the winter,” Engelbert said at the press conference. “Given the very high demand and supply, we wanted to evaluate, too, because we’re very careful about, you know, making sure we’re balancing the number of roster spots, the number of teams.
She added, “But one thing I’m very struck by as we get into a new media deal, as the media market evolves, you know, being in these three big basketball cities is going to help from a media perspective, a corporate partners perspective.”
Earlier this year, the WNBA announced a record $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal.
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