WNBA Unveils ‘Evolution’ Expansion To Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia By 2030-31
Monday, June 30, 2025 at 03:57PM By Barry Janoff
June 30, 2025: Calling it an “evolution more than an expansion,” the WNBA today unveiled its latest plans to grow the league, adding Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia by the 2030-31 season.
The three new teams join the league’s 15 existing teams.
The expansion Golden State Valkyries joined the WNBA this season as its 13th franchise; the Toronto Tempo and Portland are scheduled to join the league in 2026.
“It’s not every day you get to make history, but today we do it three times,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during a media conference. “I’m pleased to announce Cleveland and Detroit back and Philadelphia officially to the WNBA. These are proud cities with powerful sports legacies, each one rich in basketball tradition.
“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.”
“This is far more than an expansion of our league — it’s an evolution of it.”
The WNBA previously had teams in Cleveland (Rockers 1997-2003) and Detroit (Shock 1998-2009) but is entering the Philadelphia market for the first time.
All three expansion franchises have NBA ownership. Cleveland and Detroit will play in NBA arenas; Philadelphia ownership previously unveiled plans for a new venue for the Sixers that is scheduled to be built by 2030.
Each paid a $250 million expansion fee and will also be investing more money through building practice facilities and other such amenities, according to AP Sports.
The Valkyries paid a $50 million expansion fee, Toronto Tempo’s ownership group paid a $115 million expansion fee, Portland $125 million, according to industry analysts.
The WNBA increased in value by an average of 180% over the last year — more than “double the previous biggest year-over-year gain for a major sports league “ — more than the $96 million the average team was valued at in 2024, according to a new report from Sportico.
The expansion Valkyries top the list with a value of $500 million. The Valkyries are projected to surpass $70 million in revenue in 2025, more than double what any WNBA team made in 2024, according to the report.
The new WNBA team in Cleveland will be owned and operated by Rock Entertainment Group, the umbrella entity that includes chairman Dan Gilbert’s sports and entertainment properties under the Rock Family of Companies. Gilbert acquired the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005 and play in Rocket Arena.
The Detroit WNBA ownership group is led by Tom Gores — owner of the Detroit Pistons (which play in Little Caesars Arena) and chairman and CEO of global investment firm Platinum Equity — his wife Holly, and a group of sports, business, entertainment, media and finance people with minority ownership, including Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff.
The Philadelphia WNBA Team will be owned and operated by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and join the organization’s global sports portfolio, which includes the NBA’s Sixers, NHL New Jersey Devils and NFL Washington Commanders. The Sixers currently play in Wells Fargo Center.
The WNBA said expansion to 18 teams – subject to WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors approval — marks a “significant milestone in the WNBA’s commitment to growing the game, increasing opportunities for players, and bringing professional women’s basketball to new and passionate fan bases in more cities.”
Each location was selected based on an "analysis of market viability, committed long-term ownership groups, potential for significant local fan, corporate, media, and city and state support, arena and practice facilities and community commitment to advancing the sport, among other factors."
Cities that bid for expansion teams also included Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Houston, Kansas City (MO), Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville and St. Louis, according to the WNBA, media reports and industry analysts.
Englebert strongly implied that WNBA expansion would continue next decade.
“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 (1997-2008) were just an amazing one, (wiining) 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.
“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,” said Englebert.
“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.”
According to Englebert, “We didn’t know the demand would be where the demand ended up when we ran the process last fall into the winter. 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, being in these three big basketball cities is going to help from a media perspective, a corporate partners perspective.”
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