Napesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, will win the basket that won the game during a match against New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on October 10, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
The WNBA announced Monday that it has awarded three new expansion teams to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, growing the league to 18 teams over the next five years.
WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert called it a “really monumental day” for the league.
“These are powerful cities filled with passionate fanbase,” she said. “This is a bold step forward as you grow your footprint.”
There are currently 13 teams in the league, with the Toronto and Portland franchises scheduled to take part in 2026.
The Cleveland team began playing in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Engelbert declined to comment on the franchise fees each team must pay to participate in the league, but said the fees have reached historic levels.
“Today marks a transformative day in Cleveland’s sports history,” said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group, which owns the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and other professional sports teams in the city.
This is not Cleveland’s first foray into professional women’s basketball. The city held one of the Cleveland lockers from 1997 to 2003, one of the original WNBA franchises. As team owner Gordon Gund, he folded after seven seasons, saying he had low attendance and couldn’t find a way to make the team profitable.
“This is a huge victory for our city,” said Arnterem, vice-president of the Detroit Pistons basketball franchise. “It’s way bigger than basketball.”
The Detroit team will bring women’s basketball back to town after about two years off. The Detroit Shock played between 1998 and 2009, setting three championship and attendance records before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On behalf of Josh Harris, co-founder and managing partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, he said that bringing the WNBA into the city was “a duty, not just an inventory.”
