Coach

Massive WNBA Expansion Update: As 18 Teams will be in the League by 2030

Brandon Ellis

On Monday morning, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the rest of the WNBA Board of Governors announced the WNBA expansion to 18 teams by the 2030 season, with the following cities to make that expansion work: Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. With the Detroit expansion, we could see the return of the Detroit Shock to the league in 2029. Cleveland will be the first team of the three to join the league in 2028, and then in 2030, Philly will complete the expansion. Here are some more thoughts on the expansion overall. 

WNBA Expansion is a Great Thing to See 

The limited roster sizes are killing the game, so the expansion is needed, and with the Golden State Valkyries debuting in 2025, you can see it is already working. Plus, the two new teams to join the league in the 2026 season, with the Toronto and Portland teams starting play next year, we will have more evidence of this expansion working. 

Now, onto the three cities announced on Monday for the expansion, all three have a great basketball reputation and fans, especially Philadelphia. Philadelphia fans have been waiting for this announcement for a while now, plus with the city buzzing with the Eagles’ Super Bowl win in February, plus drafting VJ Edgecombe last week. Cleveland and Detroit have always had great basketball reputations as well, and both franchises have great Midwest vibes, so these cities are perfect as well for this WNBA expansion. 

Final Thoughts

The WNBA Expansion is one of those major stepping stones that the league needed to get these three cities to join in and make the league better is a MAJOR WIN. The WNBA is becoming a better brand thanks to the talents of Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, and others like Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson are still having their prime years in front of them. The WNBA will be more mainstream if the league keeps expanding, and if the refs improve a lot, the WNBA is answering the expansion situation well right now. Hopefully, the ref situation gets handled as well.

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