The WNBA announced on Wednesday that an expansion team was coming to Portland. It would be the 15th team in the league so it stood to reason that there would be a 16th team to follow. That was almost immediately confirmed as reports came out that the league was already looking for another new market by 2028.
According to Front Office Sports, Philadelphia, Nashville, Denver and South Florida are all serious contenders. The Houston Chronicle then reported that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta plans to submit a bid for an expansion team.
The way the league is currently flourishing, it's no suprise that there are a number of interested parties, but according to Sports Business Journal even more people are interested and there are 12 to 15 bidders right now. And the price of a team is going up quickly.
The Portland team cost a record $125 million and bids a few hours later were already reportedly double that.
The #WNBA’s next expansion franchise is drawing 12-15 bidders from cities like Philadelphia and Miami.
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) September 19, 2024
Portland's 15th team was awarded for a record $125M, and bids for the 16th are already hitting $200M-$250M.
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The WNBA is going to have to make some difficult decisions soon. How fast or cautiously do they want to go? Based on these reports they could probably have a bunch of new franchises up and running in a couple years. So they have to consider the risks of possibly diluting the product.
And on top of that, when are they going to start adding games to the schedule? Eight teams played 28 games in the league's inaugural season in 1997. By 2000 the size of the league had doubled and they were playing 32 games. Teams started folding soon after while the scheduled continued to expand to 34 games.
Since 2010 there have 12 teams. This year they expanded the schedule to 40 games. Next season the Golden State Valkyries will join the league and then, in 2026, Toronto and Portland will debut.
It will be interesting to see how they handle the schedule because when people are paying a quarter-billion for a franchise they're going to want to start selling as many tickets as they can to start and see some return on that investment.
The league's decisions could be as interesting to watch as the basketball.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as There's a Huge Bidding War for the Next WNBA Expansion Team.
