Cleveland is three years away from its WNBA return, but the franchise is wasting no time in building its foundation.
Rock Entertainment Group (REG) and the Cleveland WNBA team announced Tuesday that Allison Howard has been appointed as the franchise’s first president. Howard was previously the EVP and chief commercial officer of REG, which also owns the NBA’s Cavaliers, G League’s Charge, and AHL’s Monsters.
It’s the second time Howard will be the inaugural president of a women’s sports expansion franchise, as she served as the president of the NWSL club Kansas City Current from May 2022 to January 2024. She also spent more than a decade on the corporate partnerships team of the NBA’s Lakers.
Her appointment comes a month after REG CEO Nic Barlage told Front Office Sports that it expected to hire its business operations team close to Labor Day. Barlage said the next steps are to launch the team’s brand identity by the start of next year, with its basketball operations team to come by mid-2026.
The organization is taking advantage of a much longer lead time to prepare, at least relative to the 2025 and 2026 WNBA expansion franchises.
The Golden State Valkyries announced their team president, Jess Smith, in January 2024, a little more than a year before their debut. The Toronto Tempo, who debut next season, announced Teresa Resch as their president in December 2024, while the Portland Fire hired an interim president, Clare Hamill, in July after firing their first president after less than three months.
Howard gave an exclusive interview to Front Office Sports ahead of REG’s official announcement. She outlined her priorities for the team, the nuances of her new role with the Cleveland WNBA team compared to the Current, and whether she’s paying attention to other expansion franchises.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Front Office Sports: You joined REG in early 2024. Did you have an idea then that they were eyeing a WNBA team?
Allison Howard: Yes. When Nic and I first started talking about a year and a half ago, he had mentioned that REG was going to significantly grow.
FOS: What are the differences between a WNBA team and an NWSL team?
AH: The Current had owners—Chris and Angie Long—that had an incredible vision, but hadn’t had any sports experience. With REG, Dan Gilbert has decades of experience, and we have over 500 full-time team members that work under all of our properties here, so I can pull on so many different resources that are already here.
(As part of Tuesday’s announcement, Howard appointed two members of her business operations team—both of whom have multiple years of experience with the Cavaliers.)
FOS: You secured stadium and training facility naming rights with the Current, but that appears to be set already in Cleveland. What are the priorities now?
AH: When I started with the Current, there was zero brand recognition within Kansas City. There were a ton of marketing and community aspects about educating people about the team. We have a different opportunity here. We have community activities around northeast Ohio, and we’re very active within the youth space.
In terms of business opportunities, there are two jersey-patch placements that we’re looking to sell. We are going to have to do some construction in our training facility to modernize it to females, as opposed to what our NBA team has utilized it for.
FOS: Nic said the brand identity will be announced in early 2026. Is there any update on the process and whether the Rockers will still be considered?
AH: We will continue to engage the community and find the right name. [The Rockers] is certainly not ruled out. If we don’t go with the Rockers and choose a new name, the Rockers will still have a heavy influence with us. We will do throwback nights and honor the women who were part of the original eight teams.
FOS: Nic mentioned wanting to bring a team not just for Cleveland, but also for the region. How will you approach that?
AH: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Columbus are really important markets for us. We’re hearing from a lot of brands in those areas that do not have any affiliation with an NBA or WNBA team that are coming to us and asking how they can work with us, even though they’re two or three hours away.
FOS: The Valkyries are having a successful inaugural season. Are you paying attention to what they’re doing?
AH: 1000%. [Valkyries president] Jess Smith is a very good friend of mine. She was at Angel City while I was at Kansas City [in the NWSL]. She and a number of other presidents around the W have opened themselves up to me about their learnings, struggles, and opportunities that they didn’t even expect with season-ticket members or corporate partnerships.
We are in info-gathering mode right now. I was even in Indianapolis for All-Star weekend, and I got some time with [WNBA commissioner] Cathy Engelbert and other presidents. They just opened everything up like they want us to be caught up to speed quickly. Nobody seems to be holding anything close to the chest. It is very open, very ‘high tides, raise all boats,’ even with Jess, because she knows I’m coming after her to rival her and the success she’s had.
FOS: There’s been a lot of conversation about the WNBA’s focus on expansion teams having an NBA tie. How important do you think that is? Do you think the W is correct in that strategy?
AH: I appreciate what Cathy had said during our announcement. In 2026, Portland and Toronto will begin play, and they are not affiliated with an NBA team. I can only speak for Cleveland in particular, that we are in a very good spot. The Cavaliers team really outpunches our weight for the market size we’re in.
Note: The Fire ownership group is co-owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, while Tempo owner Larry Tanenbaum owns a 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA’s Raptors.
