WNBA announces Denver as a possible city for expansion

DENVER ( KDVR ) — On Monday night, the 2024 WNBA Draft revealed where star collegiate players like Iowa Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese were heading for their professional basketball careers – but it also eluded to the potential expansion into the Mile High City.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke at a press conference during the draft and dropped hints on which cities could host more WNBA teams in the coming years.

WNBA potentially expanding to these cities

For the 2025 expansion, the WNBA already announced the 13th team will be owned and operated by the Golden State Warriors in the Bay Area.

But there might be more announcements in the following weeks, according to the commissioner.

Engelbert mentioned that the WNBA’s goal is to add three more teams in the next few years, landing the league with 16 teams.

While finding cities is complex because the WBNA needs an arena, practice facility and committed long-term ownership groups, according to Engelbert, there are some cities on the WNBA radar.

Some potential cities include Philadelphia, Toronto, Portland, Nashville, South Florida and Denver.

That being said, these cities are still in the works.

“These can either take a very long time to negotiate or can happen pretty quickly if you find the right ownership group with the right arena situation,” said Engelbert.

The goal is to have another team by 2026, and Engelbert said that by 2028, the WNBA should be at 16 teams.

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