NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia all set to join the league by 2030.<\/p>\n
Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. Toronto and Portland will enter the league next year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe demand for women\u2019s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,\u201d WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. \u201cThis historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league\u2019s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women\u2019s professional basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
All three new teams announced Monday have NBA ownership groups. Each paid a $250 million expansion fee, which is about five times as much as Golden State dished out for a team a few years ago. All three teams will also be investing more money through building practice facilities and other such amenities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a natural fit that when you already have this basketball-related infrastructure, these strategies, cultures that you find to be successful, combinations of personnel that you find to be successful,\u201d said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. \u201cExtending that into the WNBA, is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past and Philadelphia was the home for an ABL team. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,\u201d Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. \u201cToday marks the long-hoped-for return of the WNBA to a city with deep basketball roots and a championship tradition. Detroit played a key role in the league\u2019s early growth, and we\u2019re proud to reignite that legacy as the WNBA ascends to new heights. Our plans will bring new energy, investment and infrastructure to our city and the WNBA, and additional resources to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland and Detroit ownership groups said the Rockers and Shock \u2014 the names of the previous teams \u2014 would be considered but they\u2019d do their due diligence before deciding on what the franchises will be called. <\/p>\n
\u201cRockers will be a part of the mix for sure, but we are at this point, we\u2019re not going to commit to a brand identity because we want to really get into it with our fans, do some research, be very thorough and thoughtful in that process,\u201d Barlage said.<\/p>\n
The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play at the NBA arenas that currently exist, while Philadelphia is planning on a new building that will be completed hopefully by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tell the city it\u2019s going to open in 2031. We\u2019re hoping for 2030,\u201d said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. \u201cSo we\u2019re trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But, right now it\u2019s 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know. We\u2019ve got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they\u2019ll play there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding these three teams will give the league more natural rivalries with another team on the East Coast and Detroit and Cleveland near each other. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s some great historical rivalries in the NBA among these cities and, I think that will carry over to the WNBA,\u201d Detroit Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said. \u201cI would love nothing more to have a rivalry like we do in the NBA with Cleveland and Indiana, Philadelphia and New York and all these great cities and, and I think we will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engelbert said she was impressed with the number of cities that bid for expansion teams, a list that included St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Miami; Denver; Charlotte, N.C.; and Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a variety of cities that obviously bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out \u2014 because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group \u2014 is Houston,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cThe Houston Comets were just an amazing one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA. So I would say that\u2019s the one, obviously, we have our eye on. (Owner) Tilman (Feritta) has been a great supporter of the WNBA, and we\u2019ll stay tuned on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engelbert went on to say that she wanted to spread out the expansion over a few years to not dilute the talent pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know the demand would be where the demand ended up when we ran the process last fall into the winter,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cGiven the very high demand and supply, we wanted to evaluate, too, because we\u2019re very careful about, you know, making sure we\u2019re balancing the number of roster spots, the number of teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut one thing I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the metrics, such as attendance, television ratings and sponsorships, have been on the rise the last few seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing the key performance indicators around the business, but then also just the communal impact of having a women\u2019s professional sports team,\u201d Barlage said. \u201cThe largest growing segment of our Cavs youth academy, which serves 60,000 kids across the state of Ohio and upstate New York, the fastest growing segment is girls. You know, it\u2019s growing at a 30% clip year over year in participation rates. And so for us to be able to create role models, to be able to create symbols of progress, to create having ambassadors within the community representing all of these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
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