WNBA Announces Three Expansion Teams In Cleveland, Philadelphia And Detroit
Cleveland will begin play in 2028, with the other two teams starting in '29 and '30
My how things have changed! The WNBA went from a fledgling league only surviving thanks to subsidies from the NBA to a league that's adding another three teams over the next five years. Of course, Caitlin Clark can't take full credit for everything, but her impact on the WNBA is undeniable.
League ratings and attendance were trending up prior to Clark's arrival, but she helped take the WNBA to another level after being drafted first overall in 2024. WNBA games almost never had one million TV viewers, but nearly every Clark game crests that mark.
Indiana Fever games always sell out and when Clark and the team travel to other cities, franchises have to move games into bigger arenas to accommodate the ticket demands. The league increased its schedule to 44 games this season (up from 40 games), as the demand for the WNBA has exploded.
The WNBA is adding three teams in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit, which will bring the league to 18 franchises by 2030.
(Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
That leads us to Monday's announcement that the league is adding three new franchises in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit. Cleveland's inaugural season will be in 2028, with Detroit beginning play in 2029 and Philadelphia rounding out the trio with its first season in 2030.
Once Detroit begins play, the WNBA will feature 18 franchises. Currently, the league has 13 teams, but two teams are scheduled to begin play next season: Toronto and Portland.
The Golden State Valkyries, the expansion team that was announced in 2023 and began play this season, paid a $50 million expansion fee. Toronto paid the same fee, while Portland's amount increased to $75 million. All three franchises negotiated the fee prior to Clark's arrival in the WNBA, although the official announcements came during last season.
That number is now $250 million for Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit.
It's really quite astonishing to think that a league that was losing millions of dollars per season – a league that only existed because the NBA paid for it so that they could win PR points – is suddenly confident enough in its future financial viability that it has added six expansion teams since 2023.
While that's certainly not all due to Caitlin Clark, one must wonder if she didn't exist, would this have happened? That's a question worth asking.