NEW YORK – The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams in the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia are all ready to get to the competition by 2030.
Cleveland starts in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the following season, assuming they will receive approval from the NBA and WNBA council of directors. Toronto and Portland will enter the competition next year.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher and we are delighted to welcome Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “This historical expansion is a powerful reflection of the extraordinary momentum of our competition, the depth of talent in the game and the increasing demand for investments in professional basketball for women.”
Alika Jenner via Getty Images
All three new teams announced that Monday has NBA ownership groups. Each paid an expansion costs of $ 250 million, which is about five times as much as Golden State came out for a team a few years ago. All three teams will also invest more money through construction facilities and other such facilities.
“It is such a natural fit that when you already have this basketball -related infrastructure, these strategies, cultures that you find successful, combinations of staff that you find successful,” said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. “Expanding that in the Wnba is just a natural next progression, especially if you have the desire to grow like us.”
Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past and Philadelphia was home for an ABL team.
“This is a huge victory for Detroit and the WNBA,” said Tom Gores of Detroit Pistons. “Today De Lange Hoped marks a city with deep basketball roots and a championship tradition for the return of the WNBA. Detroit has played a key role in the early growth of the competition, and we are proud to accommodate that inheritance as the WNBA Ascends to New Heights.
Detroit Sports Stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have the use of minorities in the team.
The ownership groups of Cleveland and Detroit said that the rockers and shock – the names of the previous teams – would be considered, but they would do their due diligence before they decide on what the franchises will be called.
“Rockers will certainly be part of the mix, but we are currently, we are not going to work for a brand identity because we really want to go into it with our fans, do what research, are very thorough and attentive in that process,” Barlage said.
The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play in the NBA arenas that currently exist, while Philadelphia is planning a new building that will hopefully be completed by 2030.
“We tell the city that it will open in 2031. We hope for 2030,” said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76 people. “So we are trying to underprentate and overlayer. But at the moment it is 2031, so we have an annual gap, you know. We have the Xfinity Center, the Wells Fargo, they will play there.”
By adding these three teams, the competition will give more natural rivalry with another team on the east coast and Detroit and Cleveland near each other.
“I think there is some great historic rivalry in the NBA among these cities and I think that will be transferred to the WNBA,” said Detroit Pistons Vice President Arn Tellem. “I would no longer like to have a rivalry like we do in the NBA with Cleveland and Indiana, Philadelphia and New York and all these big cities and, and I think we will do that.”
Engelbert said she was impressed by the number of cities that offered on expansion teams, a list of St. Louis; Kansas City, mo.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Miami; Denver; Charlotte, NC; and Houston.
“There are several cities that offer clearly, and one of whom I wanted to scream – because they have such a strong history in this competition and their large property group – is Houston,” Engelbert said. “The comets in Houston were just a great one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA. So I would say that that is the one, of course we are noticed.
Engelbert continued to say that she wanted to spread the expansion in a few years in order not to dilute the talent pool.
“We did not know that the question would be where the question ended when we ran the trial in the winter last fall,” said Engelbert. “Given the very high demand and the supply, we also wanted to evaluate, because we are very careful with, you know, ensure that we balance the number of schedules, the number of teams.
“But one thing that I am very much through when we enter into a new media deal, while the MediaMarkt is evolving, you know, in these three large basketball cities will help from a media perspective, a perspective of the business partners.”
All statistics, such as presence, television reviews and sponsorship, have been on the rise in recent seasons.
“You see the most important performance indicators around the company, but also only the common impact of having a professional sports team for women,” said Barlage. “The largest growing segment of our Cavs Youth Academy, which serves 60,000 children in the state of Ohio and Upstate New York, the fastest growing segment is girls. You know, it grows with a clip of 30% after year in participation rate. Things represents. “
