The Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA had an exceptional season this year and finished the regular season with the league’s second-best record of 64-18. Despite losing in the playoffs, their season has been described as a huge success and something to build on.
Now comes word that the WNBA wants to expand to three new cities in the next five years. Right off, the first city to get a new franchise is Cleveland.
Monday, we talked a little NBA with the potential return of LeBron James to the Cavs, so it is only right we share about the newest professional sports franchise headed to the city as well. We know the overall sports passion of our Cleveland Browns faithful!
On Monday, the league announced that Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia would be the locations for the expansion teams. Cleveland will start play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, followed by Philadelphia in 2030.
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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement:
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family. This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”
Whether the Cavs’ success has anything to do with this announcement or not, the city does support professional basketball. The NBA overall had its second-highest regular season attendance in history with an average of 18,147 patrons a game. On the home front, Cleveland had the seventh highest attendance this year (796,712) and averaged 19,432 fans per home contest.
The ownership group for the Cleveland franchise is Rock Entertainment Group (REG), an assembly led by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. This all bodes well for the WNBA club.
This year, the league welcomed the Golden State Valkyries, which play their home games at Chase Arena in San Francisco. They lead the WNBA in attendance with an average of 18,064 paid customers per contest despite being the new guys. Next year, the Toronto Tempo and Portland will feature new teams. Portland hasn’t decided on a team name, although there are some in the mix, including Fire, River, Swifts, and Pests. The Portland Fire was another WNBA team the formed in 2000 and dissolved in 2002.
For Cleveland, they had the WNBA Cleveland Rockers from 1997 to 2003. The Rockers were a charter team of the infant eight-team league but never won a title.
@WNBA @clevelandwnba @DetroitWNBA @philawnba This expansion to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia is a game-changer! Adding these new teams by 2030 will bring more eyes to the WNBA, tapping into passionate basketball markets with rich histories. The increased…
— The Profit Pup (@TheProfitPup) June 30, 2025
Like the new Cleveland team, both the Detroit and Philly franchises will be owned by the same groups that run their respective NBA clubs. The Detroit Pistons are owned by Tom Gores and his wife, Holly, while the 76ers grou,p headed by David Blitzer and David Adelman, will run the new Philadelphia team.
For Cleveland, no word on whether this new franchise will revive the name Rockers or begin with a new moniker.
It also hasn’t been announced where they will play their home games. Rocket Arena is the home of the Cavaliers and seats 19,432 for basketball and 18,926 for Cleveland Monsters hockey games. Public Auditorium is home to the Cleveland Charge G-League team and holds 10,000 for basketball. The Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University has 13,610 permanent seats, which can be expanded to 15,000 with added floor seating.
Cleveland Cavaliers Introduce Donovan Mitchell Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images
Several WNBA teams rent the smaller arenas, then schedule home contests against more popular teams such as the Indiana Fever, who feature Caitlin Clark as a huge draw. The Atlanta Dream plays at Gateway Center Arena with a capacity of 3,500, but when the Fever are on the agenda they switch to State Farm Arena and their 17,608 volumes, home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks. Likewise, the Chicago Sky call the 10,387 seats of Wintrust Arena home but relocate to the United Center, home of the NBA Chicago Bulls, for sellouts of 19,496 for Fever games.
Few new teams ever resurrect an old team name unless that former club was ultra-successful and popular. Which the Rockers weren’t.
The WNBA has a propensity to name its teams in a singular context. Of the 13 teams in the league, eight have this distinction. So, let’s throw our hat into the ring and suggest another name that epitomizes the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame as did the Rockers: The Cleveland Rock. Their logo can be an electric Ibanez guitar standing with the neck straight up, with the body half a basketball.