Why the WNBA Bet Big on Philly, Detroit & Cleveland? Inside Cathy Engelbert & Co’s 5-Year Plan

If someone had told Cathy Engelbert five years ago that the WNBA would see such a rise, she would have laughed it off. In the summer of 2020, the league moved into a tightly controlled bubble environment, dubbed the “Wubble”, in Bradenton, Florida, to salvage what it could of the season. And as the pandemic became the commissioner’s first real test, insiders gave Engelbert a bleak 2% chance of being successful with her plans. “If we didn’t pull off that season,” Engelbert reflected later, “I don’t think the league would have survived. It was that precarious. We weren’t operating from a place of security.” Indeed. Even that year’s draft unfolded not in a grand venue, but in Engelbert’s own living room. Her kids pitched in, steaming crumpled jerseys behind the scenes so she could hold them up with some semblance of professionalism on camera.

But this expansion is just the first step. If you remember the first-ever WNBA game hosted in Canada in 2023, you’d know the kind of audition it was and clearly, it passed with flying colours – putting cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia on the radar as well. Now, since the league has been eyeing the expansion process for years, there were more than a dozen cities that submitted their bids with Kansas City, St. Louis, Austin, Houston, Miami, Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina in the mix. Why were Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia selected first then you might ask?

The logic was straightforward. First, the league did not want to dilute the talent pool. Second, Engelbert and her team looked at market strength, infrastructure, and hometown backing. “These are proud cities with powerful sports legacies, each one rich in basketball tradition,” Cathy said. “This is a bold step forward as we grow our footprint.” So, these cities may become springboards for the WNBA’s international reach leveraging Canada and even Europe down the line.

Cleveland: a return with global vision

It has been more than two decades since the Rockers folded and women’s basketball went dormant in Cleveland. But the then coach Dan Hughes never saw it coming. So, even today, he will stop you in your tracks if you mention that another WNBA team would never work where it once failed. As former WNBA president Val Ackerman once said, “They were not doing well on the Cavs side. That was the issue. The Cavs were not doing as well as the organization wanted and LeBron was coming in and they saw an opportunity to bring the men’s team back in a huge way. They just decided as an organization that that’s where they were going to focus their energies.”

But now, the WNBA is booming with stars like Caitlin Clark, the Cavs are doing well without LeBron James, and they even have a mantra of taking “Cleveland to the world” now. That’s exactly why Cleveland was one of three finalists for the NWSL’s 2026 expansion team and why they have a WTA event in Tennis in the Land. So yeah, no questions asked, a WNBA team would crush it here.

“There’s a growing appetite for women’s sports in Cleveland,” said David Gilbert, CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, pointing to the blowout success of the 2024 Women’s Final Four as proof. And when it comes to the WNBA, Cleveland isn’t chasing stars, it’s championing women. “The interest in the Women’s Final Four wasn’t just Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It was about the growth of the sport and our city set the bar in so many ways, from the open practices to the Fan Fest and the other events. I think it’s a great proof point of the support the community would give,” Gilbert said.

Ready to debut on the floor in the year 2028, the Cleveland team could see a similar growth strategy as for the NBA team. It is very clear that their aim is to expand into the european waters. “It’s such a natural fit that when you already have this basketball-related infrastructure, these strategies, cultures that you find to be successful, combinations of personnel that you find to be successful,” said Nic Barlage about the expansion team, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cleveland Cavaliers. “Extending that into the WNBA is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.”

This takes us back to when the Cavaliers took on the Brooklyn Nets last year in France. That trip to Paris was more than just basketball. “We really view sport and the NBA, in particular, as this intersection of sports and fashion and entertainment, little bit of pop culture as well,” Barlage said back then and this statement holds more true for the WNBA than any other sport in just a year. “Showcase that fashion that kind of iconicness of who we believe we can be, or who we aspire to be.” Bringing Cleveland to Paris meant rolling out fun activations like ‘Café de Cavs’ and fan giveaways to boost the team’s presence in Europe. And if a WNBA team lands in the city, expect the same playbook.

Detroit: a border city with cross-border reach

Detroit is getting its WNBA groove back and not for the first time. Like Cleveland, this will be the city’s second run with a WNBA team. And it brings with itself a championship pedigree to the table. From 2004 to 2009, the original Detroit Shock racked up three WNBA titles and consistently landed in the league’s top four for attendance. So, naturally, fans have already begun showing their excitement with limited-edition “Welcome to the WNBA Detroit” T-shirts, as reported by MLive, setting the tone for the franchise’s return.

The charge is being led by none other than Pistons owner Tom Gores. “This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,” Gores said. “Today marks the long-hoped-for return of the WNBA to a city with deep basketball roots and a championship tradition. Detroit played a key role in the league’s early growth, and we’re proud to reignite that legacy as the WNBA ascends to new heights. Our plans will bring new energy, investment and infrastructure to our city and the WNBA, and additional resources to our community.”

Set for a 2029 release as a reboot of the Detroit Shock, Detroit’s investor lineup includes Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Jared Goff, Sheila Ford Hamp, and GM’s Mary Barra. It’s the kind of roster that opens boardroom doors. With that blend of sports credibility and corporate clout, Detroit is well-positioned to attract global sponsors, including European brands.

And since Detroit sits directly across the river from Windsor, Ontario, it becomes a natural hub for Canadian fans. With the Toronto Tempo launching in 2026, Detroit can serve as a logistical support hub for tri-city media events, joint ticketing, routing of exhibition games, and marketing initiatives spanning Ontario and Metro Detroit. Not to forget that Windsor, Ontario, is within the Detroit, Michigan, U.S. broadcast market. Some local Canadian television stations, mainly those in southern Ontario near the border with Michigan, carry Detroit network signals (like CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX) on top of their local Canadian programming.

Philadelphia: media capital with euro connections

If there’s one thing Philadelphia knows how to do, it’s showing up for its teams. With five major league squads already repping the city (Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, 76ers, and Union), the idea of adding a WNBA franchise isn’t just logical, it’s practically destiny. Not to forget that in the City of Brotherly Love, women actually outnumber men, 105.5 to 100. So if we’re going by numbers, the stands might seem a little more Sisterly.

Now that the green light is here, the women’s team could suit up with with the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center, at least until the new arena is built. Or, the city might go gym-hunting and snag a different venue. And if history is any proof, being under the NBA umbrella means the expansion team will benefit from all that sweet, sweet NBA money and resources without having to start from scratch.

“We tell the city it’s going to open in 2031. We’re hoping for 2030,” said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment managing partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. “So we’re trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But right now it’s 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know? We’ve got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they’ll play there.”

Beyond the arena question, Philly scores major points for its location and access. The city is reachable by train, car, bus, and that means fans from nearby WNBA cities like New York, D.C., and even Atlanta have easier access to catch games in Philly. Add in the league’s recent embrace of charter flights, and suddenly Philly becomes not just accessible, but unavoidable.

Then there’s the media muscle. Philadelphia is the fourth-largest media market in the U.S., and it’s got Comcast in its backyard – the same folks who own the Flyers and once owned the Sixers. They also ran Comcast SportsNet, now NBC Sports Philadelphia. Also, Comcast inked a deal for WNBA broadcast rights, starting next year. That’s part of their larger 11-year, $2.5 billion NBA package launching this fall. starting in 2026, more than 50 WNBA regular-season matchups and first-round playoff games will hit screens via Peacock, NBC, and USA Network.

Of course, no discussion of Philly hoops is complete without a nod to the hometown legends like Kobe Bryant and Dawn Staley. But if you think the city only speaks basketball in American English, think again. Back in 2016, the Sixers had a sudden explosion of international flair, with five foreign players suiting up that fall: Ben Simmons (Australia), Dario Šarić (Croatia), Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot (France), Sergio Rodríguez (Spain), and Joel Embiid (Cameroon). Since then, the franchise has been building out its international following with clever social campaigns and big bets on Euro talent. The WNBA team would inherit that global clout and likely expand it.

Inside Cathy Engelbert’s plan

After 29 years, the WNBA has arrived at one of the most important points in its history. The league is gearing up for expansion, a new media rights agreement, and a CBA decision to be made – all while riding a wave of unprecedented interest in women’s basketball.

“There’s this moment over the next three to five years of women’s sports where we’re going to set the course for the next 30 or 40 years,” Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Washington Post in 2023. “But it’s the next three to five years that’s going to determine a long way out, as far as can we be the first women’s sports property to really get a meaningful media rights deal?”

Which brings us to the big question: how does expansion play into all of this media talk? Well, while working out the first-phase (“tranche 1”) deals, the WNBA and its media partners were already thinking ahead. They knew more teams might join the league in the near future, and the contracts were written with that possibility in mind.

Just last year, the WNBA landed the biggest media rights deal ever in women’s sports. Kicking in from 2026, the new agreement is worth roughly $200 million per year over an 11-year span. It includes major platforms like Disney/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. To put things in perspective, the league’s current media rights across all partners are valued at about $50 million annually. To deal with the question asked above, the league also included a “look-in” clause, allowing for a reassessment of the deal’s value in three years – something that could bring in even more money down the line.

As for the CBA, hear from the players’ union itself – “Today’s expansion news reinforces what players, fans, and countless metrics have already proven: the WNBA is thriving and a great investment. As the league grows, it’s essential we secure a CBA that ensures players fully share in the success they drive.”

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