Take It Easy On More WNBA Expansion

This season, the Golden State Valkyries will begin play as the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008.  After holding steady at 12 teams for the last 16 seasons, the WNBA will be adding three in the next two years, with the Toronto Tempo and a team in Portland set to join in 2026.  It would stand to reason that a fourth expansion club, bringing the WNBA to 16 total, will follow soon after.  If the WNBA was smart, they'll stop there.

The WNBA has never had more than 16 teams at one time, and that was only for a three-season span from 2000-02.  Two teams folded and two relocated after the 2002 season, with a third franchise folding after the 2003 season.  All of that was mainly the result of the WNBA overdoing it.  They overexpanded too quickly and realized it, which is probably why they waited so long to finally expand again.

Portland is one of the cities that saw its WNBA team fold.  The Portland Fire were an expansion team in 2000 and only lasted three seasons.  The WNBA has seen the massive success of the Portland Thorns in the NWSL, though, and feels confident that a women's basketball team could do just as well in the market.  So confident, in fact, that they're trying again, 24 years after the Fire folded.

Another city that once had a WNBA franchise but no longer does is Cleveland.  The Rockers were one of the eight original WNBA teams in 1997 before folding following the 2003 season.  Cleveland, too, appears poised to rejoin the WNBA.  According to reports, the WNBA's 16th franchise will go to Cleveland, with the Rockers expected to begin play in 2028--25 years after their last game.

Despite being reasonably successful on the court and drawing decent attendance, the Rockers folded because the Gund family (who also own the Cavs) felt it was losing too much money and didn't wish to continue operating the franchise.  No local owner could be found, so the WNBA disbanded the team.  Cleveland has always been a good market for women's basketball, though, and was the site of a sold out Women's Final Four (that featured Caitlin Clark) last year.  So, the WNBA's confidence in returning to Cleveland doesn't seem unfounded.

Perhaps as another indication that Cleveland will be the location of the WNBA's 16th franchise and that the "Rockers" name will also be revived, the WNBA purchased the "Cleveland Rockers" trademark.  They also trademarked "Portland Fire," which probably means that we'll also see that franchise reborn as an expansion team.  (Portland is yet to announce a team name.  That may be why.)

"Houston Comets" and "Sacramento Monarchs" have also been trademarked by the WNBA, leading to speculation that those former franchises may return, as well.  Or maybe people are reading too much into it.  It may not be a sign that the WNBA returning to Houston and/or Sacramento is imminent (although, I'd love to see the Comets revived).  It could just be that the league wants to own the intellectual property.  It's really no different than the NFL owning the "Houston Oilers" trademark or MLB owning "Montreal Expos."

It really may just be that simple.  By owning the trademark themselves, the WNBA can prevent anyone else from registering it.  It doesn't necessarily mean the WNBA teams are coming back.  But it means that if they do, they can use the old name.  More importantly, it means that no other team can use it without getting the WNBA's permission first.  It's a smart legal maneuver.

Which brings me back to my original point.  I'm not reading anything more than that into the WNBA's trademark registrations.  Because there are more cities interested in WNBA teams and being mentioned as expansion candidates than the WNBA can accommodate.  And trying to do so would be a massive mistake.  Because it would result in the league overexpanding too quickly again.

Women's basketball has never been hotter than it is right now.  Record-setting NCAA Tournament numbers (both in terms of attendance and TV ratings) carried over into the WNBA season, and a gold-medal effort by the U.S. Olympic team certainly helped, too.  And that momentum carried over into the creation of Unrivaled, which sure looks like it's on its way to being a viable option for WNBA players to earn money in the offseason without having to travel overseas.

With all that in mind, the time was ripe for the WNBA to expand beyond 12 teams.  Golden State was already in the works, but they knew that there was enough of an appetite to add more than one team.  And they won't stay at 15, so adding one more makes sense.  Going beyond that, though, does not.  I'm not saying that because I think there's a general lack of interest in the WNBA.  I'm saying that because they don't want to make the same mistake again.

There's more talent in the WNBA than ever before.  So, the risk of diluting the product isn't as great as it would've been a few years ago.  Even with all that talent, though, there will still be good teams and bad teams.  And the more teams you have, the more potential for bad teams you have.  If you have too many bad teams, that's when attendance issues and teams struggling financially could come into play.  And that's what could lead to teams folding or relocating.  Which is the last thing you want.

And, frankly, that would be the worst possible thing for the WNBA.  It would kill all the momentum that the league has generated.  I'm not saying it will happen.  But I'm acknowledging that it's a possibility.  Which is why the WNBA would be smart to take it slow, stay at 16 teams for a while, and go from there.  It was time for them to go beyond 12.  Don't get greedy and push for more than 16, though.  At least not yet.

Things are obviously much different now than they were in 2002.  Back then, the WNBA did too much, too fast and got burned by it.  That's why they've taken a cautious approach ever since.  So, while I don't think they're at as much of a risk of overexpanding, why tempt fate?  See if 16 teams works before going to 20.  If Nashville, Denver, Houston, Philadelphia and whatever other cities really want WNBA basketball, they'll be willing to wait.