The WNBA is expanding. 

But instead of announcing the 16th franchise, the WNBA opted to announce the next three franchises collectively at a news conference Monday morning at league headquarters. Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Detroit will bring the WNBA to 18 teams—the most in league history—by 2030. 

The WNBA will stagger each team’s inclusion beginning with the Cleveland team in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. A league source told Front Office Sports each team paid a record-high $250 million, up sharply from the $50 million fee paid by the Golden State Valkyries and Toronto Tempo. The Portland WNBA franchise paid a reported $125 million, which included the expansion fee and cost of a new practice facility. 

A league source added that the true financial commitment of the latest expansion teams is more than $300 million when factoring in the cost of facilities.

“This is far more than an expansion of our league, it’s an evolution,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This is a bold step forward as we grow our footprint, create more opportunities for players and inspire the next generation of fans around the globe.” 

All three expansion franchises will be owned and operated by the respective NBA ownership in each city. The Cleveland team’s majority owner will be Dan Gilbert. Detroit’s ownership group is led by Piston’s owner Tom Gores, and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owners of the 76ers, will own Philadelphia’s WNBA team. 

The WNBA’s ownership structure is broken down into three groups. The 30 NBA owners control 42% of the league, team owners control 42%, and the remaining 16% is owned by an investment group through a $75 million capital raise in 2022. The NBA ownership structure won’t change at all, but the 42% controlled by WNBA owners will be divided among 18 teams by 2030. 

NBA ownership has been the commonality for every expansion team since the Valkyries were announced in 2023. 

Engelbert said Monday that two of the league’s last three expansion teams were not NBA affiliated, referring to the Portland team and the Toronto Tempo, which will begin play in 2026. However, Larry Tanenbaum—the principal owner of the Tempo through his company, Kilmer Sports Ventures—is the governor of the Raptors and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Toronto NBA team. Tanenbaum has a minority stake in MLSE. 

The Portland WNBA team is owned by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal through their sports investment firm RAJ Sports, which has a stake in the Sacramento Kings. 

“I don’t think we [necessarily] have a bias,” Engelbert said, regarding the WNBA’s prioritization of NBA ownership groups.

However, Engelbert didn’t shy away from the fact that the infrastructure provided by NBA ownership groups—including practice facilities, NBA arenas, and overall player experience—matters in the evaluation process as the league continues to expand. Cleveland was the “most ready,” Engelbert said, suggesting they were the first expansion team selected of the three. 

The WNBA has received expansion bids from a long list of cities, including Miami, Denver, Nashville, and Charlotte. On Monday, Engelbert singled out one directly. 

“There are a variety of cities that bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out—because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group—is Houston,” Engelbert said. 

The WNBA launched in 1997 with eight teams—including the Houston Comets—before quickly expanding to 10 in 1998. By 2000 the league had expanded to 16, which was previously the most it ever had before Monday’s announcement. But from 2003 to 2010 the WNBA saw the collapse of the Miami Sol, Portland Fire, Cleveland Rockers, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Comets. By 2010, the league was down to 12 franchises, which it operated at until last season.

The Comets made league history winning the first four WNBA titles from 1997 to 2000. The Houston bid is led by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who Engelbert called out by name on Monday, alluding to it not being a matter of if they get an expansion team, but when. 

“Houston would be up next, for sure,” Engelbert said when answering a question about the timeline for evaluating bids. “There might be opportunities there.”

NBA free agency hasn’t officially begun, but several players have already agreed to new deals with their current teams. Two of the biggest contracts announced over the weekend were for Naz Reid (five years, $125 million) and Jabari Smith Jr. (five years, $122 million). 

The nine-figure deals showcase the steep rise of the NBA’s salary cap over the past decade, as deals that were considered max contracts in 2015 are now the salaries of rotation players.

Ten years ago, Anthony Davis, like Smith, signed a rookie-scale extension worth a similar number: five years, $127 million. Reid, 25, and Smith, 22, are both strong contributors on contending teams, but neither is considered a star like Davis, who had already made two All-Star appearances and received MVP votes by the 2015 offseason.

A rookie-scale max amounts to a quarter of a team’s salary cap. However, the salary cap for the 2025–26 season is $154.6 million and has more than doubled since the 2015 offseason. It’s up 65% from the 2016–17 season, the infamous cap spike year, which is when Davis’s contract hit the books.

New Strategy

The NBA’s CBA and apron structure have caused teams to pivot their roster construction strategy, and the deals for Reid and Smith are another sign of the times.

A five-year contract is a lengthy commitment for a non-All-Star, but the deals may turn into bargains in the back end. According to Spotrac, Reid’s deal will be worth about $28.4 million by the 2029–30 season. For perspective, NBA insider Marc Stein reported the Suns are expected to offer Devin Booker a two-year, $150 million max extension—$75 million per year on a deal that will run at the same time as the final two years of Reid’s contract.

Given the NBA’s new 11-year, $77 billion media deal will kick in next season, the NBA’s salary cap should continue to rise by 10% (the maximum allowed by the CBA) consistently as it has for three of the last four seasons.

Texas State will officially join the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.

After receiving a formal invite Friday, Texas State held a board of regents meeting Monday, when the move was approved. Texas State’s exit fee for leaving the Sun Belt Conference is $5 million, but it would have doubled to $10 million Tuesday.

The Bobcats are coming off back-to-back 8–5 seasons under coach G.J. Kinne—who was hired ahead of the 2023 season—that each ended with a victory in the First Responder Bowl. 

Adding Texas State gives the Pac-12 the required eight football-playing members it needs to retain its FBS conference status in 2026. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Gonzaga (no football program) were already set to join current Pac-12 members Oregon State and Washington State next year.

Last week, the Pac-12 sealed an extended media-rights deal with CBS Sports through the end of the 2030–31 season that will give CBS Sports and Paramount+ access to marquee football and basketball games, as part of a conference package that will ultimately include multiple network partners. Financial details of the CBS Sports deal are not available.

Texas State’s departure from the Sun Belt drops the conference to 13 full-time members, if it doesn’t add another school before next year. Louisiana Tech is reportedly in discussions to leave Conference USA and replace Texas State in the Sun Belt. That would give C-USA 10 full-time members in 2026.