Cleveland is adding another professional basketball team.
The WNBA announced on Monday morning that the league is expanding again in the near future and Cleveland will receive one of the expansion teams. Detroit and Philadelphia will also gain expansion teams.
The Cleveland team will hit the floor in the 2028 season.
Home games will be played at Rocket Arena, the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Monsters, while the team will use Cleveland Clinic Courts — the current practice facility for the Cavaliers — as its exclusive practice facility.
“Today marks a transformative moment in Cleveland sports history,” Rock Entertainment Group CEO Nic Barlage said at the league’s announcement in New York City on Monday morning.
Cleveland’s WNBA team, for which a name has not yet been unveiled, will be the 16th franchise in the WNBA.
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Detroit, which had a team until 2009, will have its first season in 2029 and Philadelphia will start in 2030.
The expansion team will be owned by Rock Entertainment Group, the same group that owns the Cavaliers and Monsters.
"The WNBA's return to Cleveland marks a pivotal moment for women's sports. Years from now, we will reflect on this day as a truly monumental point in Cleveland's sporting history," Rock Entertainment Group Chairman Dan Gilbert said in a news release. "The passion, support, and continued commitment of our community for our professional sports teams played an integral role in making this possible. We're confident that this team will honor our city's enthusiastic support of women's sports, reinvigorate our WNBA fanbase, and help cultivate the next generation of women's basketball enthusiasts and athletes.”
The WNBA has surged in popularity over the past few seasons. The arrival of phenom Caitlin Clark to the Indiana Fever has helped viewership numbers reach all-time highs and a plethora of young stars including Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers have started to put their mark on the league while veteran star like Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier, Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson and New York’s Sabrina Ionescu continue to shine.
Here in Cleveland, women’s sports has seen more interest in recent years, with a Division II women’s soccer team coming to the city in 2026. W Sports Bar, a Woman’s Sports Bar, opened in Gordon Square earlier this year.
The next three expansion teams will cap a decade of expansion for the WNBA. This season, the Golden State Valkyries brought the WNBA to the Bay Area, giving the league 13 teams. Next season, the Toronto Tempo and Portland, which does not have an official nickname yet, will bring the total number of teams to 15.
AP Photo/Jamie Andrea-Yanak
From 1997-2003 the Cleveland Rockers, who were owned by former Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Gordon Gund, had a record of 108-112 and made the playoffs in four of the seven seasons. The team finished with the best record in the conference twice, but was not able to win a championship.
“Cleveland is a city built on loyalty, pride, and a deep passion for the game of basketball,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a news release. “We’re excited to welcome Cleveland back to the WNBA at a time of extraordinary momentum for our league. As one of our original eight franchises, this city played a foundational role in the WNBA’s early days, and we’re honored to return and build on that legacy.”
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