WNBA Teases Expansion With Cryptic Social Media Posts

WNBA expansion has long been on the horizon, but some intriguing posts on the league's official X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday morning indicate that an announcement may be imminent.

The WNBA first responded "Heard you" to University of Tennessee assistant basketball coach Samantha Williams, who tweeted "Expand the WNBA" on May 10.

Less than 30 minutes later, the league responded "Say pretty please" to another May tweet of basketball reporter Amanda Foster "begging" for expansion. And when a fan replied "I’ll do it! @WNBA, pretty please with a cherry on top," the league posted the recently viral Kevin James shrugging meme.

A fourth tweet came just minutes later, when the WNBA account replied to a tweet saying "The WNBA needs to expand yesterday" with "Yesterday is sooner than you think."

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has frequently cited the league's desire to expand in recent years.

The current size of the league allows for a maximum of 144 players across the 12 teams, though some teams hit the salary cap with just 11 players. With no equivalent to the NBA's G-League, there are limited opportunities for each new draft class of 36 rookies to earn roster spots. Only 32.5% of players will play in more than 10 games in their second year. Decorated veteran players have also seen careers cut short after getting waived.

Despite increased calls for expansion, Engelbert has continuously emphasized the importance of being thorough in the process.

"I have not been shy about saying we need to expand, but we want to do it through when we can find the right ownership groups with the right arena situation in the right cities that we think will be supportive," Engelbert told Boardroom in July 2022.

Engelbert has previously said that the WNBA aims to expand from 12 teams to 14 ahead of the 2025 season.

Engelbert has met with potential owner groups in cities all across the country. It was reported last week that the NBA's Golden State Warriors are nearing a potential deal to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area.

"We have had productive conversations with the WNBA and look forward to the possibility of being a part of the league’s expansion plans," the Warriors said in a statement to The Athletic on Sept. 26. "However, it would be premature to assume any potential agreement has been finalized.”

At the Sports Business Journal Brand Innovation Summit in June, Engelbert discussed some of the other cities that the league is considering. Along with San Francisco, Engelbert listed Denver, Austin, Philadelphia, Nashville, Charlotte and Toronto.