REPORT: The WNBA is coming back to Cleveland for the 2028 season

Описание: The is a report that Cleveland will get the next WNBA franchise in 2028 for an estimated $250M. The city once had the Cleveland Rockers who folded in 2003 and now they appear to be coming back.

The WNBA is preparing to award Cleveland its 16th franchise, multiple sources have told SBJ, with an approximate bid worth a league record $250M.

The sources put Cleveland’s expansion chances as high as 90% -- with an announcement expected no later than March -- and said the WNBA has re-thought its original plan of adding just one team and could award one or two more franchises to bring its league total to 18 clubs. The presumed leaders for the second and third teams are Philadelphia, Houston, Nashville, Detroit and Miami, with the league reiterating tonight that nothing is finalized.

“The WNBA has received formal bids from many interested ownership groups in various markets and we are currently in the process of evaluating these proposals,” a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement.

Cleveland is expected to join the league for the 2028 season playing at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. They will be reprised as the Cleveland Rockers, an original WNBA franchise that folded after the 2003 season when former owner Gordon Gund could not sell the team due to tumbling revenue and erratic attendance. But in the two decades since, the league’s exponential growth and popularity has led to rising expansion fees. The Golden State Valkyries, the league’s 13th franchise launching in May, paid $50M to join the WNBA, while Toronto and Portland -- the 14th and 15th franchises -- paid $115M and $125M, respectively. Now that has doubled.

As recent as two weeks ago, the WNBA applied to trademark the name Rockers, as well as the names of three other former franchises: the Houston Comets, the Detroit Shock, the Miami Sol and the Charlotte Sting -- all clues to who could be in the running for the 17th and 18th teams, but not a complete giveaway.

Sources said Houston “is probably the most positioned” for the 17th team largely because the Rockets recently built a 75,000 square-foot practice facility, owner Tilman Fertitta is reportedly worth more than $10B and they have an NBA infrastructure that is appealing to the league.

“The Comets are also an amazing brand, and it’s stunning they even left the league,” said a source, referencing the four-time champion Comets folding in 2008 due to $4M annual losses.

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