It’s been 15 years since the WNBA last saw a league expansion, since the arrival of the Atlanta Dream in 2008. The league restructured into bigger markets with franchise moves from Tulsa and San Antonio, respectively for Dallas and Las Vegas. But other than that, the WNBA still has (only) 12 teams.
Expansion rumors have been a bit more insistent over the years and may eventually come to fruition, as the ‘commissioner’ has claimed. Cathy Engelbert. The boss of the WNBA knows that she must have serious investors to embark on such a project, and it is on this point that the file would have advanced.
“Our conversations with potential owner groups are going in the right direction”, she said so at the conclusion of the All-Star weekend.
Toronto and San Francisco on the front line?
If she has not yet designated any city among the destinations likely to host a WNBA team, Cathy Engelbert stressed that she had greatly appreciated the enthusiasm around the pre-season match organized in Toronto, between Chicago and Minnesota, in front of nearly 20,000 fans.
“We were delighted with what happened there. We are still talking about it. There’s still a lot of buzz, and we appreciate that our Canadian counterparts made it a success.”she pointed out.
Another candidate has come forward, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who thinks the San Francisco Bay Area can be another viable market for the league.
“We have been very focused in recent years on our new hall. Then there was the pandemic, and it was not something that we could put at the top of our list then. But we are very interested, we think we could be a phenomenal place for a WNBA team. We could do a great job.”, he notably confided in the Mercury News.
All accompanied by the aura of Stephen Curry, father of two daughters who has always been committed to the development of the practice and promotion of women’s sport.
Other big issues to face
For her part, the first vice-president of the players’ union, Kelsey Plum, recalled that other issues had to come before the idea of an expansion. The rear of the Aces notably mentioned the conditions of travel or the question of the salaries of the players, much lower than those of their male counterparts.
“I feel like we have a few gaps we can work on right now”she let go. “The expansion is big, the growth of the league, of the cities, and I think that’s something that will come. But I don’t think it should come before private flights or salary benefits.
For the league, the idea is undoubtedly precisely to be financially stronger thanks to these new markets, and thus pull everyone up.
