Last April, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said her goal was for the league to hit 16 teams by 2028. It’s close: The Golden State Valkyries, the 13th team, will begin playing when the new season starts in May. Next year the Toronto Tempo and an as-yet-unnamed team in Portland, Oregon, will push the league to 15 franchises. Where the 16th team will land is unclear; the Sports Business Journal reported it will be Cleveland, but a league spokesperson will only say the WNBA “has received formal bids from many interested ownership groups in various markets, and we are currently in the process of evaluating these proposals.”

Of course, leagues think about expansion when business is growing. The W, as the Women’s National Basketball Association is informally known, is no different. The league had already hit a growth spurt when rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese supercharged its popularity. TV viewership last season was up 155% from 2023, and attendance increased 48%. Merchandise sales online and at the flagship store in New York City rose a combined 601%. In July the WNBA agreed to an 11-year, $2.2 billion media deal—six times bigger than its previous one.

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