June 30, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Inside WNBA expansion
By The Next
In an emergency podcast, host Howard Megdal breaks down the expansion to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia
Host Howard Megdal brings you the latest from New York, where WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert revealed the next three expansion franchises. Hear from him, as well as team representatives and league alum Deanna Nolan on the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball.
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As part of the announcement, the general timeline for expansion was also revealed. Cleveland will join the league in 2028, Detroit will follow in 2029 and Philadelphia will bring the league total to 18 teams by 2030. Megdal asked Engelbert about the expansion process and how it will affect ongoing media rights negotiations.
“There’s no specific tie to bringing and expansion, it’s just bringing additional teams and additional media markets,” Engelbert said. “Nothing specific tied to the number of teams or these particular cities, but I think they will be thrilled with these three cities.”
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As Thomas Costello wrote, this will be a second chance for former WNBA cities Cleveland and Detroit. And although Cleveland did file a trademark request for the Rockers moniker, they have not committed to a team name yet.
“We love what the Rockers stood for,” Cleveland ownership group representative Nic Barlage said. “At the end of the day, we really want to be thoughtful about what, what does Cleveland represent as we go forward, and so we’re going to keep our options open relative to the identity of the team, and go through a thoughtful and inclusive process that our fans and the community will embrace.”
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In the third segment, Howard shared comments from Nolan on the WNBA returning to Detroit where she played for the Shock.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Nolan said. “I’m just proud. Appreciate that the investors and everybody is bringing the team back to Detroit. Like I said, we have a winning history. We have such loyal fans.”
Stay tuned for more reactions from each franchise and deeper analysis on what this round of expansion will mean for the WNBA from our team at The Next. And make sure you are subscribed to Locked On Women’s Basketball so you hear it first.
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Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.
