Cavaliers Ownership ‘Likely’ To Receive WNBA Expansion Team

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ arena, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, has been the home of multiple sports teams for over 30 years.

From the Cavaliers themselves and the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters now, to the now-defunct Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League in the past, downtown Cleveland’s arena has been the center of many sports franchises.

And now, another may potentially be on the way soon.

According to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, Cleveland is likely to be awarded a WNBA expansion franchise for the 2028 season. Here is what Friend had to say in a recent article:

“The WNBA is preparing to award Cleveland its 16th franchise, multiple sources have told SBJ, with an approximate bid worth a league record $250M. The sources put Cleveland’s expansion chances as high as 90% —with an announcement expected no later than March —and said the WNBA has re-thought its original plan of adding just one team and could award one or two more franchises to bring its league total to 18 clubs.”

Rock Entertainment Group, which is owned by Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert, announced a bid for the WNBA’s 16th franchise back in November. The group owns the Cavaliers, the NBA G League’s Cleveland Charge, the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, and the NBA 2K League’s Cavs Legion GC.

Although the city is not guaranteed a team at the moment, Cleveland looks to be in strong position to bring WNBA basketball back to Northeast Ohio.

After the WNBA was founded in 1996, the league declared Cleveland as home to one of its eight charter teams later that year.

The Cleveland Rockers were in the WNBA from 1997 through 2003, and played their home games at Gund Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse). The team made the WNBA Playoffs four times, reaching the WNBA Semifinals in 1998 and WNBA Eastern Conference Finals in 2000. However, decreasing attendance, financial losses, and being unable to find a new owner caused the team to fold.

Friend writes that the Rockers are expected to play their home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and be operated from the Cavaliers’ Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, would operate from their new Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center in downtown Cleveland, which is expected to open in 2027.

While it remains to be seen if the WNBA will have a home in Cleveland again, it certainly appears likely based on this latest report.

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