Cleveland launches formal bid for a WNBA team

Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, wants to bring a WNBA team to Northeast Ohio.

Rock Entertainment Group, the umbrella company that hosts Gilbert’s sports and entertainment properties, told CNBC on Wednesday that it intends to submit a proposal for a WNBA expansion team.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she hopes to grow the league to 16 women’s basketball teams by 2028. As women’s sports continues its growth trajectory, a host of cities are coming to the table with their pitches.

Officials in Cleveland — home to professional teams like the NBA’s Cavaliers, NFL’s Browns, MLB’s Guardians and American Hockey League’s Monsters — believe they are well-positioned for a women’s franchise.

“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,” Nic Barlage, Cleveland Cavaliers CEO, told CNBC.

As an example, he cited the Cavs recently announcing that they are joining forces with the Cleveland Clinic to create a new Performance Center to provide state-of-the-art training for both the Cavs and the public. The Cavs also have an existing practice facility in Independence, Ohio, which they said could be ready-made for a WNBA team.

Barlage said Cleveland also has a track record of passionate fans that support their teams in good times and bad.

“Cleveland is a real crazy sports town,” said David Gilbert, CEO of the Cleveland Sports Commission. “It’s so closely tied to the identity of the city that’s had, the last couple of generations, some tough times.”

The Cleveland Cavs are off to their best start in history, currently sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 15-1 record.

Engelbert spoke about expansion last month ahead of the WNBA Finals, saying there is no shortage of competition for an expansion team, with at least 10 cities expressing interest.

Potential suitors also include Denver, Miami, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

“The good news is we have a lot of demand from many cities,” she said. “I think the more people are watching the WNBA and seeing what we’re growing here and seeing these players and the product on the court, more people are interested in having it in their cities.”

With Englebert leading the way, the league has already seen some expansion. The WNBA’s 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will kick off their season in 2025, and Toronto and Portland, Oregon, were awarded the 14th and 15th franchises earlier this year.

“We’re not in a huge rush. We’d like to bring it in in ’27 or no later than ’28,” Engelbert said in regards to a timeline for a 16th team.

The league said it is looking at a wide range of factors in a city when it comes to picking an expansion team, including practice facilities, a committed ownership group, demographics and Fortune 500 companies.

The WNBA has tapped investment bank Allen & Company to lead the expansion process. Coincidentally, Allen and Company also helped Gilbert when he purchased the the Cavs in 2005.

This would not be Cleveland’s first foray in the WNBA. The city hosted one of the WNBA’S original franchises, the Cleveland Rockers from 1997-2003. The team folded after seven seasons as the team’s owner, Gordon Gund, cited low attendance and said he could not find a way to make the team profitable.

“I have invested in it now for seven years trying to find a business model for it to work in our marketplace,” Gund said in 2003. “The fans we had were very enthusiastic and very supportive. We just didn’t have enough.”

The league was not able to find new owners, and Gund turned his attention to the Cavs and their pursuit of Cleveland’s hometown hero LeBron James.

Yet, a lot has changed in the 20-plus years since the Rockers folded, as the WNBA and women’s sports are seeing major upticks.

The WNBA last month delivered its most-watched finals game in 25 years. The league also saw fans coming out in droves, giving the WNBA its best attendance record in 22 years. And it’s translating to the wallet — merchandise sales are up more than 600% from 2023.

Cleveland itself has also gone through a resurgence, too, in part kicked off by James’ return to the city back in 2014. The Washington Post Editorial Board even published a piece in January calling Cleveland “America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown.”

“We firmly believe we sit at the nexus of the Mediterranean of the Midwest and there’s no reason why we can’t have and manifest all the same opportunities that some of the higher growth markets you may see in the southern half of the country have,” Barlage said.

Since 1994, the Cavs, Monsters and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse have generated $6.5 billion in total output, according to the Cavs 2024 Community Impact Report. The Cavs Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse hosted more than 150 events this year, including the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, helping to stimulate millions for the city.

“I just feel extraordinarily confident that, should a team be given to Cleveland, in part because of the city, in part because of what sports means here, in part because of the Cavs, it would immediately be a huge success,” Gilbert said.