Golden State Of Mind: WNBA Expansion Franchise Led By NBA Warriors Ownership
Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 04:06PM By Barry Janoff
October 5, 2023: Following months of speculation, the WNBA said today it has awarded an expansion team to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, co-executive chairmen for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
The team is scheduled to begin play for the 2025 WNBA season.
The as-yet unnamed franchise — which likely will use Golden State as part of its identity — will play home games in the Warriors’ Chase Center in San Francisco.
Golden State’s Oakland Facility, which served as the Warriors’ practice facility and front office from 1997-2019, will be the WNBA team’s headquarters.
“The Bay Area is the perfect market for a WNBA team, and we are thrilled this opportunity has finally come to fruition,” said Lacob via the WNBA.
“We have been interested in a WNBA franchise for several years, due in part to the rich history of women’s basketball in the Bay Area, and believe now is the ideal time to execute that vision and build upon the legacy.”
This will be the first franchise to join the league since the Atlanta Dream in 2008.
The move would give the league 13 franchises, fueling the potential of another expansion to even the schedule. Portland has been named among the league’s leading possible expansion cities.
The WNBA is the second pro sports league this year to plan expansion into the San Francisco Bay Area.
This past April, the NWSL said it would have an expansion club in the San Francisco Bay Area for the 2024 season, led by former U.S. Women’s National Team players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner and Sixth Street global investment firm.
“We are thrilled about expanding to the Bay Area and bringing the WNBA to a region with passionate basketball fans and a strong history of supporting women’s basketball,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said via the league.
“Joe Lacob, Peter Guber and their leadership team know how to build and operate a world-class organization, as witnessed by the immense success the Warriors’ franchise has enjoyed from both a business and basketball perspective over the last decade.'
According to Engelbert, "Their interest in joining the WNBA family is yet another sign of the league’s growth potential.”
The Warriors become the sixth NBA franchise to have a WNBA team, joining the Indiana Pacers (Indiana Fever), Minnesota Timberwolves (Minnesota Lynx), Brooklyn Nets (New York Liberty,) Phoenix Suns (Phoenix Mercury), and Washington Wizards (Washington Mystics).
According to Lacob, “The WNBA continues to solidify itself as the preeminent women’s professional basketball league, and we look forward to supporting the best women’s basketball players in the world and our team starting in 2025.”