156 roster spots: restructuring the wnba
The announcement of the WNBA league expansion dropped recently, with the establishment of a franchise in the Bay area under the same ownership group as the Golden State Warriors. The WNBA Golden State team will be joining the League in 2025, with the Chase Center in SF as their home.
This is the first league expansion in the W since 2008, when the Atlanta Dream were added to the league. Yes, 2008. A whole 15 years ago. Meaning up until now, only 144 roster spots were up for grabs for women playing basketball at the elite level. Now, yes, I am beyond excited for this league expansion. And yes, it’s about damn time. But the number of roster spots sits at 156 across 13 teams. For reference, the NBA has 30 teams, the NBA G-League has 31(!) teams, the MLS has 29, and the NWSL is planning to expand to 16 teams in 2026.
Now, okay. I know what you’re probably thinking. Well, women’s basketball isn’t as popular as any of those other leagues. But then, how do you expect the game to continue to grow if you’re placing such a low limit on the number of women that are allowed to participate in the League? Year in and year out, the WNBA Draft comes around, giving 36 women a chance at their dream of joining the W. But more than HALF of these women are waived after training camp, and the likelihood of them making a roster as a free agent after that is even smaller.
But is there a real, feasible solution to this problem? Adding more teams is definitely a step in the right direction. But how can the WNBA continue to grow and thrive while also make money? Because as much as I hate to admit it, money might be the most important factor here. And to preface, my opinion is completely my own and I have no inside scoop into how the league is operating from a financial standpoint. But I do know that the NBA contributes (according to Google) $12 million to the W each season. So my proposed restructure of the WNBA comes from a more theoretical, structural angle.
I’ve often thought that the WNBA could take on a format similar to the NBA G-League. Each G-League team operates under the umbrella of an NBA team, allowing for these players to get a chance to play at an elite level and sometimes even get a chance for a two-way contract. But their success and ability to thrive as an organization comes from the support they get from the NBA team they work under. It’s a genius move to me that the WNBA is bringing a team to the Bay to operate under the same ownership as the Golden State Warriors. So why not make this a league-wide norm? Many teams already operate on this business model and even have similar branding to their NBA counterpart (think the LA Sparks and Lakers, Minnesota Lynx and Timberwolves). I would even argue that those WNBA teams that have significant support from the local NBA team have had the most historical success, prior to the dawn of the Superteam Age in the WNBA (lookin’ at you Liberty and Aces).
Now, I am still a huge fan of bringing WNBA teams to areas where there are no professional basketball teams yet. The Aces have been holding it down in Vegas, and the Storm continue to thrive in Seattle even after the relocation of the Supersonics. But I think women’s basketball teams would be able to grow more efficiently (from both a financial and awareness standpoint) if they were directly aligned with an NBA team. Plus they would be able to build off a fanbase and community that already has some prior basketball exposure, so the fan conversion process would be somewhat eased.
Now, is this the perfect solution to fix all the problems with the WNBA? Absolutely not. But I will be curious to see if they take into account the “NBA factor” when searching for the newest franchise location. Which, I truly hope happens before the next 15-year gap. The talent within women’s college basketball is insane right now, and is only continuing to grow, so I can only hope that these women get a chance to make it to the next level in their careers and perform on the biggest stage.
