Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, wants to bring a WNBA team to Northeast Ohio.

Rock Entertainment Group, the umbrella company that hosts Gilbert’s sports and entertainment activities, told CNBC on Wednesday that it plans to submit a proposal for a WNBA expansion team.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she hopes to expand the league to 16 women’s basketball teams by 2028. As women’s sports continues its growth trajectory, a host of cities are bringing their fields to the table.

Officials in Cleveland — home to professional teams like the NBA’s Cavaliers, NFL’s Browns, MLB’s Guardians and American Hockey League’s Monsters — believe they are well-positioned for a women’s franchise.

“We have this unique convergence of infrastructure, culture and these foundational pieces that we think make Northeast Ohio, and specifically Cleveland, a great opportunity to expand from a WNBA perspective,” Nic Barlage, CEO of Cleveland Cavaliers, to CNBC.

As an example, he cited the Cavs who recently announced they are joining forces with the Cleveland Clinic to create a new Performance Center to provide state-of-the-art training to both the Cavs and the public. The Cavs also have an existing practice facility in Independence, Ohio, which they said could be ready for a WNBA team.

Barlage said Cleveland also has a track record of passionate fans supporting their teams in good times and bad.

“Cleveland is a truly crazy sports town,” said David Gilbert, CEO of the Cleveland Sports Commission. “It is so closely linked to the identity of the city that has seen difficult times in recent generations.”

The Cleveland Cavs are off to their best start in history and are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 15-1 record.

Engelbert spoke about expansion last month ahead of the WNBA Finals, saying there is no shortage of competition for an expansion team, with at least 10 cities expressing interest.

Potential candidates also include Denver, Miami, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

“The good news is we have a lot of demand from many cities,” she said. “I think the more people look at the WNBA and see what we’re growing here and see these players and the product on the field, the more people will be interested in having it in their city.”

With Englebert leading the way, the league has already seen some expansion. The WNBA’s 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will begin their season in 2025, and Toronto and Portland, Oregon received the 14th and 15th franchises earlier this year.

“We’re not in a huge rush. We’d like to get it in in ’27 or no later than ’28,” Engelbert said regarding a timeline for a 16th team.

The league said it looks at a wide range of factors in a city when it comes to choosing an expansion team, including practice facilities, a committed ownership group, demographics and Fortune 500 companies.

The WNBA has tapped investment bank Allen & Company to lead the expansion process. Coincidentally, Allen and Company also helped Gilbert when he bought the Cavs in 2005.

This wouldn’t be Cleveland’s first foray into the WNBA. The city hosted one of the WNBA’s original franchises, the Cleveland Rockers from 1997-2003. The team folded after seven seasons because team owner Gordon Gund cited low attendance and said he could not find a way to make the team profitable.

“I’ve invested seven years now into finding a business model that would make it work in our market,” Gund said in 2003. “The fans we had were very enthusiastic and supportive. We just didn’t have enough.”

The league was unable to find new owners and Gund turned his attention to the Cavs and their pursuit of Cleveland’s hometown hero LeBron James.

Still, a lot has changed in the more than two decades since the Rockers went bankrupt, as the WNBA and women’s sports see major revivals.

The WNBA delivered its most-watched finals game in 25 years last month. The league also saw fans come out in droves, giving the WNBA its best attendance record in 22 years. And that also translates into the wallet: merchandise sales have increased by more than 600% compared to 2023.

Cleveland itself has also been undergoing a resurgence, started in part by James’ return to the city in 2014. The Washington Post Editorial Board even published a piece in January calling Cleveland “America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown.” “

“We firmly believe that we are at the crossroads of the Mediterranean in the Midwest and that there is no reason why we cannot have and manifest the same opportunities that some of the faster growth markets that you see in the southern half of the country sees, has. Barlage said.

According to the Cavs 2024 Community Impact Report, the Cavs, Monsters and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse have generated $6.5 billion in total production since 1994. The Cavs Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse hosted more than 150 events this year, including the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, boosting millions for the city.

“I just feel extremely confident that if a team was given to Cleveland, partly because of the city, partly because of what sports mean here, partly because of the Cavs, it would be an immediate success,” Gilbert said. .