As the NBA mulls expansion, which has been a talking point for decades, the WNBA has put into action its expansion efforts in a major way. On Monday, the league announced that it will add three new teams by the 2030 WNBA season, with those teams coming to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
That will put the league at 18 franchises, marking a 50 percent increase over a six-year span. The league had 12 teams in the 2024 WNBA season before adding the Golden State Valkyries this year. A Portland franchise and the Toronto Tempo will then debut next year, followed by the latest three additions as the league will add half a dozen teams over six WNBA seasons. Cleveland is set to debut in 2028, with Detroit following suit a year later, and the Philly franchise will join the league in 2030.
“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,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.
“I am deeply grateful for our new owners and ownership groups—Dan Gilbert in Cleveland, Tom Gores in Detroit, and Josh Harris, David Blitzer, David Adelman, and Brian Roberts in Philadelphia—for their belief in the WNBA’s future and their commitment to building thriving teams that will energize and inspire their communities. We are excited for what these cities will bring to the league, and are confident that these new teams will reshape the landscape of women’s basketball.”
The owners that Engelbert mentioned also all own NBA teams in those cities’ markets, with Gilbert owning the Cavaliers, Gores owning the Pistons, and Harris/Blitzer owning the 76ers. The WNBA is adding franchises in existing NBA markets, as it knows the fan bases in those locations are strong and can support multiple pro basketball teams.
Once these three officially join the league, 15 of the 18 WNBA teams will be in markets that already house NBA teams, with the three exceptions being the Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Connecticut Sun. However, NBA expansion talks have identified Las Vegas and Seattle as the two likeliest markets.
This will be Cleveland’s second attempt at a WNBA franchise, as the Cleveland Rockers were one of the original eight WNBA franchises. They played from 1997-2003 and made the playoffs in four of their eight seasons, including one Eastern Conference Finals appearance. However, when the team’s owner announced he would no longer operate the Rockers—and the WNBA was not able to find a new ownership group—the franchise folded five months before the 2004 WNBA season.
This will also be Detroit’s second WNBA team after the Detroit Shock were part of the league’s first expansion in 1998. After the WNBA had its inaugural season in 1997, it added Detroit and the Washington Mystics the following season, and the former had a successful 12-year run. The Shock won three WNBA championships under Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer, who served as head coach. Even with their success on the court, the Shock struggled to draw fans and would relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2010. After six years in Tulsa, the franchise then relocated again to Texas, where it became the Dallas Wings and is still in existence.
This will be Philadelphia’s first WNBA franchise, and the city’s building a new downtown arena may have played a role in it landing a team. A planned multi-purpose arena in South Philadelphia was announced in January of this year and will see both the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL housed there. Now, the newest WNBA franchise will also play in the arena, which is scheduled to open in 2031.
These three cities were among nearly a dozen cities that bid for expansion teams. Others who were not awarded a franchise include Nashville, Tennessee, Austin, Texas, Denver, and Houston.
It’s the last of those, Houston, which has longed for a WNBA team ever since the Houston Comets folded after the 2008 season. The Comets were the league’s first dynasty, winning each of the first four WNBA championships behind stars like Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes.
Engelbert made it a point to acknowledge the city of Houston in its efforts to get another WNBA franchise. She also implied that the city remains on the radar if, and when, the league opts to expand again.
“There are a variety of cities that obviously bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out—because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group—is Houston,” Engelbert said. “The Houston Comets were just an amazing one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA.
“So, I would say that’s the one, obviously, we have our eye on. [Owner] Tilman [Feritta] has been a great supporter of the WNBA, and we’ll stay tuned on that.”
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