Swin Cash Defends WNBA’s 2022 Stake Sale: ‘The League Is Growing’

Swin Cash helped keep the WNBA afloat in 2022.

The Hall of Famer was one of the investors in the WNBA’s $75 million capital raise for a 16% equity stake in the league. Other investors include former NBA star Baron Davis, and NBA and WNBA owners Joe and Clara Tsai (Nets & Liberty), Herb Simon (Pacers & Fever), and Ted Leonsis (Wizards and Mystics). 

At the time of the raise, it was widely reported that the investment valued the league at $1 billion. But FOS reported earlier this year that valuation of the league was closer to $475 million after the capital injection.

The league is far more valuable than that just four years later. 

The WNBA’s popularity has skyrocketed since 2024 after the arrival of the rookie class led by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Team valuations have skyrocketed, and the three latest expansion teams—all coming by 2030—each paid $250 million to join the league. The league’s existing teams are approaching $1 billion valuations, with CNBC estimating that the Golden State Valkyries are already there.

FOS previously reported that the WNBA is interested in buying back the 16% stake, which would cost far more than the $75 million the investors paid for it in 2022.

“It’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made,” Cash tells Front Office Sports. Other investors include Heat owners Micky and Nick Arison, Spurs minority owners Michael and Susan Dell, NBA legend Pau Gasol, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The deal further complicated the WNBA’s already-muddled ownership picture.

Before the capital raise, half of the league was owned by the 30 NBA owners, while the other half was owned by the WNBA’s owners. The two side’s portions were cut to 42% following the raise—but Leonsis, Simon, and the Tsais have a hand in all three stakes.

Cash, who will be an analyst on Amazon Prime Video’s WNBA studio coverage this season, defended the league’s decision, saying it was difficult to predict such explosive growth.

“I don’t think anybody had a globe or a ball to say whether it’s right or wrong,” Cash said. “I think that you can look at it and say the investment has helped tremendously in different ways and the WNBA is hitting right now when it’s supposed to. The league is growing. …  So I don’t think that anything is necessarily bad.”

The WNBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Detroit Expansion Team

One of the league’s expansion teams will be in Detroit, where Cash played for six of her 15 years in the WNBA. Cash was drafted No. 2 overall by the Detroit Shock in 2002, and helped lead them to two of their three championships.

The Detroit WNBA franchise will return in 2029. The team is owned by Pistons owners Tom and Holly Gores and will play home games at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit. 

But it’s not clear whether the expansion franchise will be able to revive its historic name. 

A trademark for Detroit Shock has been registered to the Women’s Pro League since Feb. 5, 2025. A week earlier, the WNBA filed its own application for the trademark. The trademark application remains pending.

Cash said she’d love for the team to return as the Shock, but knows the team’s history will live on no matter what.

“I don’t care who owns the name of the Shock,” Cash said. “The blood, sweat and tears by the women who played in those jerseys, and it hung those banners—that needs to be there. So whether you own it or don’t, you don’t own what we were able to accomplish. 

“So do I want the name to come back? I would love to see it. If the name changes, does it change the history of the game? No.”