Between conference play in the collegiate ranks, Unrivaled in full swing in Miami and so much WNBA news hitting the wires, it has been an exciting time to follow women’s ball.
And after a dormant few weeks, the account titled “WNBAExpansion16” decided to re-enter our chats. Not too long ago, it was revealed that there is indeed an effort by Nashville and Tennessee luminaries to bring the league’s 16th team to the Volunteer State.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has remarked previously that the goal is to get to 16 teams by 2028. Thanks to the Golden State Valkyries, Toronto Tempo (which recently announced Monica Wright Rogers as its general manager) and the yet-to-be named Portland franchise, that goal is almost certain to be reached.
Spearheading the effort is former Republican governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam – currently the chairperson of the NHL’s Nashville Predators. That investment group also includes WNBA great Candace Parker, NFL great Peyton Manning and country music power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
The plan would be for the team to begin playing in 2028 – and also calls for the construction of a practice facility that would be in use for the team and for youth ball as well. Bridgestone Arena would serve as the team’s home arena.
There is reason to be optimistic about the Nashville bid – one that has already been submitted. After all, the WNBA could use a second team in the southeast. Also, given the strong ties between the state of Tennessee and women’s basketball it makes sense for the W to go south to a state that is part of the fabric of the game’s history.
The fact that the purveyors of such bid already created at least one social media account also displays it is very optimistic about this bid.
A team named after Summitt and has Parker as part of its investment group is one that has already tugged at the strings of many in our WNBA family.
But…then there is the reality of the business side of expansion.
And the business side is why Nashville may still have a massive mountain to climb in the form of Philadelphia.
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Josh Harris (Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment) was teaming up with Comcast to put together a bid for a Philadelphia expansion franchise. Harris teaming up with Comcast was a shrewd move because of how prominent a name it is about to become in basketball business circles.
Harris is teaming up with the same Comcast that will be an NBA media partner beginning later this year – and a WNBA media partner starting in 2026. Also – NBC and Peacock – both platforms owned and operated by Comcast – will have rights to the WNBA Finals in 2026, 2030 and 2034.
There is an often used term in many boardrooms called “return on investment” or ROI for short. Comcast is looking to ensure that it gets that maximum return on investment from returning to the professional basketball broadcasting ranks after the NBA’s falling out with Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT).
There are two Boards of Governors that have to approve any WNBA expansion franchise. Those are the WNBA’s BOG and the NBA’s BOG. Are those Boards of Governors really about to say no to a bid that happens to include one of its incoming media partners having a minority stake?
It would be one thing if expansion was not already announced to Golden State, Toronto and Portland. Harris giving a minority stake to Comcast was meant to effectively box out any other suitors – including Nashville and Cleveland. Also, Philadelphia is a bigger market than Nashville or Cleveland.
Expansion is going to come down to cold, hard business. When the WNBA finally expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area, it went with Joe Lacob and Peter Guber’s bid over that of the African American Sports & Entertainment Group (AASEG). Why so? Lacob and Guber had the $50 million necessary to pay the other 12 WNBA governors while AASEG unfortunately ran out of money.
And that is to say nothing of how politically toxic Tennessee is even though the WNBA has franchises in other politically toxic states like Texas and Indiana.
While it is great that there is a chance that Tennessee’s rich history with women’s basketball could finally be rewarded with a franchises, there is still a strong chance the announcement of the WNBA’s 16th franchise will be a Comcastic one.
