Cleveland's new WNBA team hosted nearly 700 K-12 and college students from around Cuyahoga County at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Tuesday in a ceremony to welcome the WNBA back to the city.
The WNBA won't officially return until 2028, but the new team is already making a commitment to invest in women athletes in Ohio.
"We don't start bouncing the basketball for 32 more months and look at what we're doing today," President of Business Operations for Cleveland's WNBA team Allison Howard said. "If that's any indication of what I like to call the long orange runway of what we have planned, not only for the city, but ... for the entire sport."
Cleveland was one of the eight original WNBA cities in 1997, home to the Cleveland Rockers. But the team folded in 2003.
The name for the WNBA’s new Cleveland franchise is still being discussed, Howard said, but they're committing to support young basketball players statewide through new camps, clinics, developmental programming and training sessions for coaches.
This investment highlights its commitment to building an inclusive environment for women basketball players in Cleveland, Howard said.
"Make no mistake, this is just the beginning. Because empowering the next generation is what this team is built for. Together starts now."
Howard said they’ve already planned 28 training and development programs for women through June 2026.
The decision to bring the league back to Cleveland was an easy one, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, even with 12 other markets on the table. The turn out for the NCAA final four last year sealed the deal, she said.
"It was a pretty apparent that Cleveland deserved a WNBA team at this time of hyper growth that the league is in," Engelbert said. "So congratulations to the Cleveland community."
The city saw a $35 million economic boost from hosting the NCAA Final Four last year, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said. The team returning to Cleveland should let aspiring athletes know that Cleveland can support them throughout their careers.
"What I'm most excited about is the fact that Cleveland will be a place where young athletes, but especially our female athletes feel like they don't need to go to New York, D.C. or LA they can live their God-given potential right here in the great city of Cleveland, Ohio."
The WNBA team will be an integral part of Cleveland’s sports scene, President of Basketball Operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers Koby Altman said.
"It's gonna integrated into everything we do in our ecosystem and our infrastructure. And so you're gonna Cavs, Charge, you're going to have the [WNBA] team all thriving, and I truly believe that the women's program is gonna elevate the men's program by far."
With the WNBA returning to the city, Altman said he hopes Cleveland’s young women athletes will be able to envision being able to build both a life and a basketball career in their hometown.
