The WNBA revealed on Monday that Cleveland, Ohio, has secured the 16th franchise in the league. Previously, the Cleveland Rockers played from 1997 to 2003, and now the league is making a comeback in the city. Dan Gilbert highlighted this milestone, calling it a significant moment for women’s sports and a historic day for Cleveland\u2019s sports scene.<\/p>\n
Although the franchise\u2019s official name hasn\u2019t been announced, sources say it\u2019s narrowed down to four potential names, with a possibility of reviving the Rockers name. The team will start competing in 2028, joining a growing list of new teams after Golden State in 2025 and Toronto and Portland in 2026. Their home games will be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the same arena where the NBA Cavaliers play.<\/p>\n
Local residents have welcomed the news warmly. Allyssa Eclarin, owner of Cleveland\u2019s first women\u2019s sports bar, expressed delight in seeing the WNBA\u2019s return, emphasizing how much women\u2019s sports have progressed since the Rockers left due to a lack of support from male ownership. Atlanta Dream forward Nas Hillmon, a Cleveland native, shared her excitement about having a hometown team again, recalling her family\u2019s past enthusiasm for women\u2019s basketball in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
The addition of the WNBA team is part of Cleveland\u2019s broader commitment to women\u2019s sports, following the city\u2019s efforts to bring professional women\u2019s soccer through the Women\u2019s Premier Soccer League after missing out on a national league bid. Local fan Michel Wagner Sinner praised Cleveland\u2019s strong support for women\u2019s athletics.<\/p>\n
The ownership group, led by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, is optimistic about the franchise\u2019s future success. Following the Golden State Valkyries’ recent ranking as the top team in league evaluations, Cleveland is hopeful for strong fan engagement and competitive performance. Hillmon is confident Cleveland fans will show up and support their team passionately, reflecting the city\u2019s well-known dedication to its sports teams like the Cavaliers, Guardians, and Browns.<\/p>\n
Fans eagerly await the start of play in 2028. Additionally, WNBA expansion is planned for Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, which will grow the league to 18 teams by the decade\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: The return of the WNBA to Cleveland is a powerful symbol of growth and renewed investment in women’s professional sports. For WNBA fans, it marks an exciting chance to reconnect with the league\u2019s history and witness the expansion of basketball opportunities for women in a passionate sports city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The WNBA revealed on Monday that Cleveland, Ohio, has secured the 16th franchise in the league. Previously, the Cleveland Rockers played from 1997 to 2003, and now the league is making a comeback in the city. Dan Gilbert highlighted this milestone, calling it a significant moment for women’s sports and a historic day for Cleveland\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[491],"tags":[39,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-9845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}