The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) plans to expand to 18 teams over the next five years. It was announced Monday morning that Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cleveland are set to join the league by 2030, pending approval from the WNBA and the NBA Board of Governors.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” shared WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “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.”
The WBNA currently has 13 teams, with franchises in Toronto and Portland set to join in 2026.
The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play in pre-existing NBA arenas. Philadelphia, however, is planning to build a new stadium for their team, which they hope to complete by 2030.
“We tell the city it’s going to open in 2031. We’re hoping for 2030,” said Josh Harris, managing partner and co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. “So we’re trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But right now it’s 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know? We’ve got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they’ll play there.”
Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030.
“Philadelphia is a city with unmatched passion, rich basketball tradition, and an unwavering love for its teams,”Engelbert said. “It’s only fitting that this iconic sports town is finally home to a WNBA franchise. From neighborhood courts to historic college arenas, basketball runs deep in Philly — and we’re proud to bring the W to a city that’s ready to embrace it.”
True to Englebert’s words, fans immediately took to X to show their excitement for the new team.
“philly is already one of the greatest sports cities in the world and we just gained our first professional women’s team. the wnba is gonna thrive here i’m so excited,” wrote @chefbriere.
User @lilsingsong shared, “WNBA coming to philadelphia best news I heard all morning.”
The WNBA franchise will be the city’s first new major professional sports team since 2008.
“It’s only right that this city finally gets the WNBA franchise it deserves,” said Harris, “and we’re humbled to help usher in a new era of Philadelphia basketball.”
