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Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WNBA expanding to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia by 2030
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. 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. 'The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,' WNBA Commissioner Cathy 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.' 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. 'It's 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,' said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. 'Extending that into the WNBA, is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.' Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past, and Philadelphia was the home for an ABL team. 'This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. 'Today 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's early growth, and we're 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.' Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team. The Cleveland and Detroit ownership groups said the Rockers and Shock — the names of the previous teams — would be considered, but they'd do their due diligence before deciding on what the franchises will be called. 'Rockers will be a part of the mix for sure, but we are at this point, we're 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,' Barlage said. 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. 'We tell the city it's going to open in 2031. We're hoping for 2030,' said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. 'So we're trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But, right now it's 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know. We've got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they'll play there.' 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. 'I think there's some great historical rivalries in the NBA among these cities and, I think that will carry over to the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said. 'I 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.' Other cities that bid on teams that didn't get them include St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Houston; Miami; Denver; and Charlotte, N.C. '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. '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. '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.' All the metrics, such as attendance, television ratings and sponsorships, have been on the rise the last few seasons. 'You're seeing the key performance indicators around the business, but then also just the communal impact of having a women's professional sports team,' Barlage said. 'The 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's 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.'
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
WNBA teams failed in Cleveland and Detroit before. Will it be different this time?
As Deanna Nolan prepared to travel from her Detroit area home to New York City for the rollout of her hometown's new WNBA expansion franchise last week, the former five-time All-Star reached for a suitcase she hadn't used in more than a decade. She insisted she didn't know what was inside the brown Tommy Bahama roller bag before she selected it. She said she hadn't traveled with the suitcase in 15 years. But as she rummaged through one of its pockets, scrambling to pack for her Eastbound trip, Nolan found an original Detroit Shock luggage tag. Advertisement 'It's a sign,' she said. Nolan had to travel with that bag as a member of the former WNBA team, with which she won three championships. She made sure to bring the tag to the unveiling at the league's New York City Midtown office. Ten days ago, the WNBA announced three expansion franchises: Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Philadelphia is a first-time WNBA home, but Cleveland and Detroit have been WNBA markets before. Cleveland had the Rockers from the league's inaugural season in 1997 until 2003. Detroit had the Shock from 1998-2009. Stakeholders with the new teams in Cleveland and Detroit are confident the second iteration will be more lasting than the original. 'We have a team and an enterprise that's ready to embrace this,' said Nic Barlage, the CEO of Rock Entertainment Group, which owns the new WNBA franchise and NBA's Cavaliers. 'That is a key differentiator for us.' The change starts at the top, with both franchises being led by new ownership groups from their past versions. The original Rockers had been owned and operated by Gordon Gund, a businessman who ran the Rockers and Cavaliers. When the Rockers folded, Gund cited low attendance and a business model he said was no longer viable. He said the Rockers did not turn a profit in any of its seven seasons, and they drew an average of just 7,400 people at 20,000-seat Gund Arena in their final season. As the franchise floundered, Gund even wondered whether the Cavaliers winning the 2003 NBA Draft lottery, and with it the right to select LeBron James, could impact the city's WNBA future. 'That can maybe be a consideration in having us continue for an additional time (with the Rockers), while maybe not doing as well as we would like,' he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in June 2003. 'But that doesn't change the basic principle that we want it to be a viable business model.' Advertisement Much has changed around the WNBA since then, of course. The league is experiencing a significant period of growth across a number of key metrics (TV viewership, merchandise sales, attendance, corporate partnerships). Ownership groups of the three expansion franchises paid a league-record $250 million expansion fee for their respective teams, and teams across the league are on far more stable footing than they were at the end of the aughts. A WNBA franchise hasn't folded since 2009 nor has one relocated since 2018. Minnesota Lynx president Cheryl Reeve was an assistant coach in Cleveland in 2003 and worked for the Shock as an assistant coach and later as general manager from 2006-09. She said that in the early aughts 'it took a lot to get NBA franchises behind their WNBA franchises.' 'What I hope is that both Detroit and Cleveland learned a lot about their experiences the first time around,' Reeve said. 'I anticipate an overall more committed experience because that's what's necessary. Anything short of that, (and) it won't be as successful as it should be.' 'There was a period of time where people were investing in women's basketball because they felt it was the right thing to do,' said Los Angeles Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley, who played for the Rockers in 1998. And now? 'People realize this is a business, and the intention to be profitable (is a focus) as well,' Pebley said. According to Sportico, WNBA franchise valuations grew 180 percent since 2024, with the New York Liberty recently selling a minority stake in the franchise for a professional women's sports team record $450 million. A demonstrated willingness to invest was critical in the WNBA landing on each ownership group. By the time the Cleveland WNBA franchise begins play, Gilbert and his group will have invested $1.1 billion in sports and entertainment infrastructure in Northeast Ohio. Barlage said that Cleveland WNBA will 'invest significantly' in the already existing Cavaliers practice facility, which the WNBA team will use full-time when it begins play. Advertisement In Detroit, Tom Gores, owner of the NBA's Pistons, and the rest of the franchise's ownership group will build a new practice facility for the WNBA team. The first version of the Shock was owned by Bill Davidson, who also owned the Pistons, and practiced in the Pistons' facility. Davidson died in March 2009, and Detroit's longtime coach, Bill Laimbeer, resigned three games into the ensuing WNBA season thrusting the franchise into further uncertainty. That October, an ownership group from Tulsa purchased the team and relocated it there. 'The fact of the matter is that the economic realities have caused us to make this decision,' Tom Wilson, then-president of Place Sports and Entertainment, said at the time. The Shock, he said, lost $2 million in their final season. Arn Tellem, the Pistons' vice chairman, said members of Detroit's investor group went to Shock games. He said local business leaders and civic leaders are re-energized by the recent news. Detroit's ownership group also includes NBA Hall of Famers Grant Hill and Chris Webber, as well as Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp and quarterback Jared Goff. There is broader interest in the league as well, and Tellem is confident the WNBA's current financial footing puts new teams in a position to succeed. 'The league is at another level as far as interest and coverage,' he said. '(WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert) made the point, it wouldn't have worked five or 10 years ago, but today, it's on a huge rise, and I know that fans are going to be overjoyed with this decision.' Investment will be critical for both groups to avoid repeating shortcomings. How both groups recognize the importance in honoring their history is also an open question, though neither committed to picking their old names when the expansion news was announced. Even with the Shock relocating more than a decade ago, Nolan has felt the Shock's presence for years. She recalled fans stopping her at restaurants and inside grocery stores to voice their affinity for the Shock. For years, she said, they've asked her when the city was bringing a team back. Now she can say they officially are. 'It's a long time coming,' Nolan said. 'I've been waiting.' (Photo, from left, of Ruth Riley, Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash, Deanna Nolan and Barbara Ferris: Tom Pidgeon / Getty Images)
Japan Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
WNBA expands to 18 teams with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia added
Three WNBA franchises are set to join the league by 2030, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia confirmed as the new teams on Monday. The expansion will push the WNBA to 18 total teams. Cleveland (2028) will be the first franchise to play in the WNBA among the latest additions. Detroit is scheduled to join in 2029 and Philadelphia one year later. "Great demand for WNBA franchises," commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday at a news conference announcing the growth. "There was huge demand. Really proud of what my team has done. Looking forward to future conversations as the league continues to grow." The league currently stands at 13 teams, with franchises in Toronto and Portland set to enter the WNBA in 2026. Engelbert previously said the league was targeting 16 teams before 2028. She said the expansion announced Monday included "historic franchise fees," but would not confirm the reported cost of over $200 million. She said on Monday the path and strategy through the end of the decade only became more clear as the discussions on expansion continued. "I can't overstate the talent available, women's college basketball and internationally," Engelbert said of the key factors in forging ahead with expansion and why the timing was right. All three franchises will be under the majority ownership of the NBA teams in their cities. Nick Barlage, CEO of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Entertainment Group, said Cleveland plans to pay homage to the past of the Rockers' franchise, which existed from 1997 to 2003. The Detroit franchise is also a WNBA reboot. The Shock were one of the first expansion teams and played from 1998-2009. Arn Tellem, vice chairman of Pistons Sports and Entertainment, said the city's pride brought in more investment interest than they could accommodate. "When we thought about the idea of bidding for a WNBA franchise, the incredible history we have, we felt this was going to be a huge success. It's a huge win for our city," Tellem said. "So often Cleveland and Detroit get overlooked for these hot, sexy cities in the South. I love this win for Michigan and Ohio and my hometown of Philadelphia."
Globe and Mail
30-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
WNBA to expand to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia by 2030
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. 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. 'The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,' WNBA Commissioner Cathy 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.' All three new teams announced Monday have NBA ownership groups. Each paid a US$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. 'It's 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,' said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. 'Extending that into the WNBA, is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.' Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past and Philadelphia was the home for an ABL team. 'This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. 'Today 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's early growth, and we're 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.' Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team. The Cleveland and Detroit ownership groups said the Rockers and Shock — the names of the previous teams — would be considered but they'd do their due diligence before deciding on what the franchises will be called. 'Rockers will be a part of the mix for sure, but we are at this point, we're 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,' Barlage said. 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. 'We tell the city it's going to open in 2031. We're hoping for 2030,' said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. 'So we're trying to under-promise and overdeliver. But, right now it's 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know. We've got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they'll play there.' 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. 'I think there's some great historical rivalries in the NBA among these cities and, I think that will carry over to the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said. 'I 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.' 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. '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.' Engelbert went on to say that she wanted to spread out the expansion over a few years to not dilute the talent pool. '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. '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. '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.' All the metrics, such as attendance, television ratings and sponsorships, have been on the rise the last few seasons. 'You're seeing the key performance indicators around the business, but then also just the communal impact of having a women's professional sports team,' Barlage said. 'The 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's growing at a 30 per cent 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.'
Fox News
30-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
WNBA Expanding to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia Over Next 5 Years
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. 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. "The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family," WNBA Commissioner Cathy 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." 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. "It's 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," said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cleveland Cavaliers. "Extending that into the WNBA, is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do." Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past and Philadelphia was the home of an ABL team. "This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA," Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. "Today 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's early growth, and we're 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." Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team. The Cleveland and Detroit ownership groups said the Rockers and Shock — the names of the previous teams — would be considered, but they'd do their due diligence before deciding on what the franchises will be called. "Rockers will be a part of the mix for sure, but we are at this point, we're 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," Barlage said. 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. "We tell the city it's going to open in 2031. We're hoping for 2030," said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. "So we're trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But, right now it's 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know. We've got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they'll play there." 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. "I think there [are] some great historical rivalries in the NBA among these cities and, I think that will carry over to the WNBA," Detroit Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said. "I 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." Other cities that bid on teams that didn't get them include St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Houston; Miami; Denver; and Charlotte, N.C. "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. "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. "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." All the metrics — attendance, television ratings and sponsorships — have been on the rise the last few seasons. "You're seeing the key performance indicators around the business, but then also just the communal impact of having a women's professional sports team," Barlage said. "The 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's 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." Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
