The Connecticut Sun is still on the chopping block, with reports surfacing Tuesday that the WNBA made a $250 million offer to buy the team in order to control its final landing place.
The Mohegan Tribe — the Sun's current owners — are reportedly still seeking clarity on the league's preferred relocation destination, after two prospective outside bids stalled in front of the Board of Governors.
Multiple offers remain on the table, including two $325 million bids from groups in Boston and nearby Hartford, Connecticut — as well as a plan to raise capital via minority investments rather than a full sale.
Recent reports point to the league's desire to control the Sun's fate while preserving certain markets for expansion, with the Mohegan Tribe under pressure to bend to the WNBA's interests.
The WNBA offer to buy the Connecticut Sun outright is reportedly part of a larger plan to flip the team to a different prospective ownership group without an additional relocation fee — and rumors say Houston is in the lead.
The Mohegan Tribe already turned down a low-ball bid out of Cleveland, with WNBA later awarding the Northeast Ohio city an expansion team for a $250 million fee.
NBA co-ownership was a clear priority during the league's most recent expansion, with officials now looking to force that strategy onto the Sun's future.
One of the newest WNBA additions made a big announcement on Tuesday morning, as incoming expansion side Cleveland named Allison Howard president of business operations ahead of the team's 2028 season tip-off.
Howard, the current EVP and chief commercial officer for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, previously helped launch the Kansas City Current as the 2022 NWSL expansion team's first-ever president, while also securing naming rights for the first purpose-built women's soccer stadium.
"Allison comes to this role with an extraordinary track record of leadership in premier sports organizations and expanding the reach of women's sports," said Nic Barlage, CEO of franchise owner Dan Gilbert's Rock Entertainment Group, in a team statement.
Cleveland will re-join the WNBA as the league's 16th team, part of a controlled expansion plan that will see the league grow to 18 franchises by 2030.
The city's original WNBA team — the Cleveland Rockers — played from 1997 to 2003, folding prior to the 2004 season.
Notably, the incoming team has already sold more than 6,000 season ticket packages since the WNBA announced the return of the Cleveland squad on June 30th.
"It has been energizing to feel the passion of Cleveland WNBA fans across Ohio and to see how quickly our community has already embraced our team," said Howard in Tuesday's announcement.
"We're committed to making this team a source of pride for our city and broader region, to inspire future athletes and to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels welcome."
Portland's original WNBA team name is back, with the 2026 expansion side announcing the return of the the Portland Fire moniker on Tuesday — the name held by the city's first WNBA squad from 2000 to 2002.
With details including a "Rose on Fire" emblem— a nod to Portland's "Rose City" nickname — the city-specific nods in the new logo seek to capture Portland's identity.
"[It's] an important heritage," team interim president Clare Hamill told The Athletic this week. "The opportunity to bring the Portland Fire back, reborn, was 100 percent — creatively and for the brand and for fans — the way to go."
While the team is still searching for its head coach and general manager, excitement is growing, with fans anteing up to the tune of over 10,000 season-ticket deposits since the WNBA awarded the franchise last fall.
"Portland has long stood at the forefront of women's sports, and with nearly 11,000 season ticket deposits to-date, this community has made it clear they're ready to embrace the return of women's professional basketball," said Lisa Bhathal Merage, a co-founder of RAJ Sports — the ownership group of both the WNBA team and the NWSL's Thorns. "We're proud to reignite the Portland Fire."
In addition to the Portland Fire, the Toronto Tempo will hit WNBA courts next season, with three more expansion teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia set to tip off in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.
Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.
"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."
"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."
Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.
"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."
The WNBA made a splash on Monday morning, announcing an expansion plan that will see the league officially grow to 18 teams by 2030, with new franchises joining from Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
Subject to approval by the WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors, the league expects to add Cleveland in 2028, with Detroit following in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.
With existing NBA ownership groups backing all three cities, the league chose the trio because of "market viability, committed long-term ownership groups, potential for significant local fan, corporate, media, and city and state support, arena and practice facilities, and community commitment to advancing the sport, among other factors."
Notably, while Monday's news will bring a WNBA team to Philadelphia for the first time, the announcement represents a return for the league to both Cleveland and Detroit.
The Ohio city hosted one of the league's inaugural teams, the Rockers, from 1997 to 2003, while the Detroit Shock joined the WNBA in 1998, eventually relocating to Tulsa in 2010 before becoming the Dallas Wings in 2016.
Monday's WNBA expansion plan also follows the already announced incoming teams in Toronto and Portland, both set to tip off next season, as well as 2025 newcomer Golden State.
Each of the three incoming clubs in Monday's announcement paid a $250 million expansion fee — five times the $50 million that Golden State paid in October 2023.
"This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league's extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women's professional basketball," said commissioner Cathy Engelbert. "I am deeply grateful for our new owners… for their belief in the WNBA's future and their commitment to building thriving teams that will energize and inspire their communities."
The WNBA appears poised to accept a bid from Cleveland to become the league's 16th franchise, with Sports Business Journal (SBJ) putting the Midwestern city’s chances of earning an expansion team "as high as 90%."
Led by Dan Gilbert, the majority owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, the investor group will reportedly revive the name and branding of the Cleveland Rockers ahead of the team’s 2028 debut. The Rockers were one of the WNBA's inaugural teams, competing from the league's 1997 debut season until the team's 2003 folding.
SBJ also cited an estimated expansion fee of $250 million, setting a new league record by fully doubling the $125 million fee shelled out by Portland, the WNBA's incoming 15th franchise.
That massive check combined with access to top-notch facilities likely elevated Cleveland’s bid, which includes plans for the incoming Rockers to operate out of the Cavs' current training facility after the NBA team moves to a new center in 2027.
Big expansion team bids spark additional WNBA growth
SBJ's report also indicated that the WNBA has begun considering growth beyond their previously stated three-year, 16-team strategy, with an eye toward stretching to 18 squads in the short-term and 20 franchises by 2030.
Like Cleveland's bid, immediate access to NBA infrastructure has reportedly placed two markets at the front of the line for an expansion nod: a revival of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets and a net-new Philadelphia team. That said, three other former WNBA franchises — the Detroit Shock, the Miami Sol, and the Charlotte Sting — are rumored to be in the mix as well.
However, those ex-WNBA cities face stiff competition with bids from new markets like Austin, Nashville, Kansas City, Jacksonville, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Denver entering the race in recent months.
Seizing the moment after a banner 2024 season, the WNBA is appearing to fast-track expansion rather than put prospective owners with deep pockets on hold — and turning some heads in the process as fears about growing too big, too quickly start to crop up.