Cavs’ ownership group launches bid for WNBA team in Cleveland: Why it has a shot

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers are looking to make a second foray into the WNBA, with majority owner Dan Gilbert “actively pursuing” the American pro women’s league’s 16th team.

“Cleveland’s vibrant ecosystem of world-class assets, passionate and engaged sports fans, coupled with a culture that has allowed professional sports to thrive, make our Team and city uniquely positioned to provide an ideal home for the W’s next franchise,” Gilbert’s chief business executive in Cleveland, Nic Barlage, said in a statement Wednesday.

The Cavs have also launched a website — wnbacleveland.com — announcing its bid.

If Cleveland’s bid is successful, its new women’s team would play at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, where the Cavs play downtown, and would practice at the Cleveland Clinic Peak Performance Center, a sparkling new headquarters for the Cavs’ training and business facilities expected to open in 2027.

A Cavs source said those two items — playing games at the Fieldhouse, which has undergone massive renovations over the last few seasons, and practicing at the new Cleveland Clinic facility when it opens — are two of the strongest components of Cleveland’s bid. The source said the Cavs had been working directly with the WNBA on a bid for about a year. Because the bidding process is expected to be so competitive, that source said, the league hired investment bank Allen & Company to vet all potential bids.

There are at least 10 cities seeking to land the W’s 16th team. If Cleveland were to land a team, it would likely begin in roughly 2027 or 2028. The WNBA played with 12 teams last season; the Golden State Valkyries will begin play next summer and teams have also been awarded to Toronto and Portland, Ore.

Barlage — who is chief executive officer for the Cavs, for Gilbert’s entertainment company and for the arena itself — first disclosed the Cavs’ bid to CNBC.

Gilbert purchased the Cavs in 2005. The city previously had a WNBA team, the Rockers, from 1997 until 2003, when then-Cavs owner Gordon Gund decided to cease operation of the women’s team and the league could not find another owner.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Cleveland Cavaliers, WNBA, Sports Business

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