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The social media accounts for the cities of Cleveland and Detroit fired back after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she didn't "know how excited people are going to be going to" either city as part of the WNBA's upcoming expansion plans.
The City of Cleveland's X account shared a clip of Cunningham's teammate, Caitlin Clark, praising the city when it hosted her Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four.
"Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad! We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!" the account wrote with the video clip.
The city of Detroit, was previously home to the WNBA's Detroit Shock, also reposted the clip of Cunningham with statistics about its popularity.
"The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals. Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning," the City of Detroit account wrote.
Both cities, along with Philadelphia, will join the league's 15 existing teams, following the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, who tipped off their inaugural season in May, as well as the franchises in Toronto, Canada, and Portland, Oregon, set to debut next season. Cleveland will begin play in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, with all three markets being selected based on various factors including viability, long-term ownership commitment and potential fan support, according to the league.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a press release. “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. I am deeply grateful for our new owners and ownership groups – Dan Gilbert in Cleveland, Tom Gores in Detroit, and Josh Harris, David Blitzer, David Adelman, and Brian Roberts in Philadelphia – for their belief in the WNBA’s future and their commitment to building thriving teams that will energize and inspire their communities. We are excited for what these cities will bring to the league – and are confident that these new teams will reshape the landscape of women’s basketball.”
Philadelphia has never previously had a WNBA team. The Cleveland Rockers were part of the league's inaugural 1997 season before eventually folding in 2003.
The Shock were part of the league's first expansion -- along with the Washington Mystics -- in 1998 before the franchise moved to Tulsa in 2010 and eventually Dallas, repackaging as the Wings, in 2016.
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