The WNBA Is Expanding At Just The Right Time
It’s an exciting time for the WNBA, women’s sports and hoop lovers alike. It’s October, which means the 2023-24 NBA regular season starts at the end of the month and the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces tip off Sunday, so it’s a fantastic time for basketball.
The WNBA has added a wrinkle of that, teasing an expansion with some cryptic tweets. Here are a few:
This makes you go hmm. but then they started doubling and tripling down.
Finally, they confirmed what we were hoping for: The WNBA expansion. It says coming soon, but how soon can it be? Here’s the announcement right here:
This is coming at a perfect time for the women’s basketball. Ratings and exposure for Women’s sports and basketball in particular are rising every year. NBA players have helped a little with that giving praise to players and going to the games.
What really has helped has been the women’s basketball athletes in college who are straight hoopers. Names like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers (Buckets), Aaliyah Edwards, Cameron Brink, Hailey van Lith and many many more. This is a super-talented draft class. which is the reason why this expansion is happening at just the right time.
But, even without this draft class–expansion was due. There was too much talent for the WNBA and not enough teams. Former Dallas Wings player Abby Meyers was the 11th pick in the 2023 draft and was cut from the Wings. Too many rookies are getting cut simply because there aren’t enough roster spaces in the league. It’s time.
The current league has 12 teams. It seems like they’re adding one more team in the Bay Area. I was hopeful for four, which was very unlikely of course. I thought two was going to be the answer but one is better than none.
The Bay Area is a good destination. The Golden State Warriors will help market that team so the league continues to grow. The league shouldn’t be done, they should try to market for three more expansion teams in the near future. I think 16 teams is a solid league for the women’s basketball. The only question now is what is the name of the Bay Area team for the WNBA?
