Cleveland could be a future home of a WNBA franchise after a group led by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said it intends to submit a proposal for an expansion team.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert wants to be at 16 teams by 2028 — the league is currently at 12, but is adding Golden State (2025), Toronto and Portland (2026) over the next two seasons.
Rock Entertainment Group, the company that features Gilbert’s sports and entertainment properties, is confident Cleveland can land a WNBA franchise, given the presence of other professional teams in the city like the NBA’s Cavaliers, NFL’s Cleveland Browns, MLB’s Cleveland Guardians and minor league hockey side the Lake Erie Monsters
“We have this unique convergence of infrastructure, culture and these foundational pieces that we think make Northeast Ohio, and specifically Cleveland, a great opportunity to expand from a WNBA perspective,” Cavaliers CEO Nic Barlage told CNBC.
Last month, Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell expressed interest in being part of a possible Cleveland WNBA franchise.
“I think Cleveland definitely deserves a WNBA team,” Mitchell said via Cleveland.com. “It’s big time for Portland and San Francisco to add one. But Cleveland is a perfect sports city for it. The WNBA is at an all-time high and I love the competition. Been this way for a while and I think people are now starting to finally pay attention.”
“I would love to be part of that [franchise in Cleveland], for sure, if that ever happens. It’s been great basketball. It’s become more national. I feel like us as players, we’ve been there from the jump. I think it’s great that the world is finally starting to see what we all see.”
Cleveland will have competition in the quest to be the WNBA’s 16th team. Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Philadelphia have shown interest.
Engelbert said in October the league is not in a rush to award another expansion franchise, but it is eyeing 2027 or 2028.
“I’d say there’s 10 to 12 cities that are very viable that we’re evaluating, and we have a process,” said Engelbert. “I’d say I don’t have a deadline by which we have to name it because it’ll be out to ’27 or ’28, but I would think in the next couple months or so we’ll start — now as we get into the offseason, we’ll start taking a look at those that will go to the top of the list through our process.”
This would be the second WNBA franchise to play in Cleveland following the Rockers, who were an original league franchise that played from 1997-2003 before folding after ceasing operations.
