CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers are looking to make a second outing in the WNBAwith majority owner Dan Gilbert “actively pursuing” the 16th team of the American professional women’s league.
“Cleveland’s vibrant ecosystem of world-class assets, passionate and engaged sports fans, along with a culture that has allowed professional sports to thrive, make our team and city uniquely positioned to provide an ideal home for the next W franchise,” Gilbert’s principal business . executive in Cleveland, Nic Barlage said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Cavs also launched a website – wnbacleveland.com — announcing its offer.
If Cleveland’s bid is successful, its new women’s team would play at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, where the Cavs play downtown, and practice at the Cleveland Clinic Peak Performance Center, a shiny 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 past few seasons, and practicing at the new Cleveland Clinic facility when it opens — are two of the strongest components of the offer. Cleveland. The source said the Cavs have 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 has hired investment bank Allen & Company to review all potential bids.
There are at least 10 cities looking to land a 16th team from the W. If Cleveland were to land a team, it would likely start in about 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’ offer to CNBC.
Gilbert bought the Cavs in 2005. The city previously had a WNBA team, the Rockers, from 1997 to 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 Athletics.
Cleveland Cavaliers, WNBA, Sports Business
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