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How the Women's Final Four and Caitlin Clark helped usher the WNBA's return to Cleveland
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- How the Women's Final Four and Caitlin Clark helped usher the WNBA's return to Cleveland
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's Rock Entertainment Group began its pursuit of Cleveland's new WNBA franchise three years ago, and the city hosting the NCAA Women's Final Four in 2024 made the return of women's professional basketball a slam dunk.
Yes, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark , University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and other key women's hoops figures who drew fans to Rocket Arena a year ago played a part.
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Those are two key revelations Rock Entertainment Group brass shared June 30 during a Zoom news conference after the WNBA announced earlier in the day Cleveland will become the league's 16th franchise. The team is set to begin playing in the 2028 season.
"It's been about three years since we started this journey," Rock Entertainment Group and Cavs CEO Nic Barlage said. "Dan continues to push us every day to think bigger, to think about what's next, and we've been looking at and studying women's professional sports now for quite some time. We're the operating partner for the WTA event, Tennis in the Land, for the last three years, and we were part of an NWSL bid. But the WNBA, it was a perfect fit.
"When you couple that with the success of hosting the Women's Final Four in 2024, these were all signs for us that our community was ready and we were also ready-made to be able to make this decision to bid on this franchise."
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) controls the ball against South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson during the finals of the Final Four of the women's 2024 NCAA Tournament on April 7, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
How successful was the NCAA Women's Final Four in Cleveland?
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission announced last year the Women's Final Four provided Northeast Ohio with $32.9 million in direct spend, according to the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator. Also, 36,584 fans attended the two sold-out Final Four games, 20,624 fans visited Tourney Town, the free festival at the Huntington Convention Center, and 11,291 fans flocked to free practices. The games and practices were held at Rocket Arena, home of the Cavs and Cleveland's WNBA team.
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Staley's South Carolina squad defeated Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes teammates 87-75 for the national championship on April 7, 2024. For the first time, more people watched the women's national title game than its men's counterpart — 18.9 million viewers compared with 14.8 million, according to Nielsen.
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To further illustrate the success of the Women's Final Four in Cleveland, Barlage said tickets sold out in 17 minutes.
"It is the fastest on-record Women's Final Four to sell out from a ticketing perspective [and the] highest viewership they ever had in the history of it," Barlage said. "Obviously, we got very fortunate in having athletes like Caitlin Clark and the Dawn Staley-led University of South Carolina, who was undefeated.
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"As we work incredibly hard at this thing, we're going to earn our luck. We earned our luck in that situation, and we were able to put on a world-class show for all the world to see about what women's basketball can be. For us, that was really the final little catalyst we needed to go all in and go all in a big way to be able to recruit this opportunity back to Northeast Ohio."
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley reacts during the trophy presentation after the Gamecocks defeated Iowa in the championship game of the Final Four of the women's 2024 NCAA Tournament on April 7, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
How much does Cleveland's new WNBA team cost?
Of course, "a big way" has a dollar amount tied to it. The WNBA also announced June 30 Detroit and Philadelphia will receive teams, starting play in the 2029 and 2030 seasons, respectively. All three new teams will pay an expansion fee of $250 million to the league.
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The Cleveland Rockers were one of eight WNBA charter organizations and played the first of their seven seasons in 1997. However, they folded in 2003, with former Cavs and Rockers owner Gordon Gund blaming the demise on low attendance and a failure to turn a profit in any season of his WNBA team's existence.
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Times have changed for the WNBA since then, and Gilbert's team envisions a wise investment.
"Every key performance indicator we've looked at over the last three years, it has this trajectory that you haven't seen in and around a sports asset in quite some time, whether it's viewership, whether it's attendance, all the major things," Barlage said. "But I think what was even more important to us was the way that a community engages with these assets. We've studied it in some of the other markets. They've really wrapped their arms around it no different than they would any of the other professional teams that represent Cleveland.
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"When you take those ingredients and then you look at where we are currently with the league having even 18 teams after this next tranche of expansion, there's so much upside and so much greenfield opportunity that's in front of us because you think about it: more teams, more games, longer season. All those things create more opportunities for us to drive economics and for us to ultimately grow the asset. So we think we're an early mover at this stage, which is kind of crazy to say when you think about coming in as the 16th team with two other teams to follow us."
A general view during the championship game between Iowa and South Carolina during the Final Four of the women's 2024 NCAA Tournament on April 7, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Which cities submitted bids for the WNBA's 16th franchise?
At least 10 groups submitted a bid before a Jan. 30 deadline to receive a WNBA expansion team. Among them were representatives of Nashville, Tennessee, Houston, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis and Austin, Texas.
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In other words, the competition was fierce.
"We're fortunate," Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said. "These are hard to get. These franchises are very hard to get, so we should be very, very proud as a city and as a state. There's a tremendous competition to land these franchises.
"To be the 16th team in the WNBA is a very, very proud moment for our franchise, for our family of companies, for Dan. We are going to do this thing right. But just know this was not an easy bid. We really had to put our best foot forward to land this thing, and so we're very fortunate."
Cleveland has Rocket Arena and Cleveland Clinic Courts practice facility ready for its WNBA team
Obviously, Gilbert showed the WNBA the money. Other factors Barlage pointed out, though, are Cleveland has Rocket Arena and Cleveland Clinic Courts ready for its WNBA team, which has yet to announce its nickname .
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Otherwise known as Cavs headquarters, Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence will become the practice facility of the new WNBA team. In October, the Cavs broke ground on Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center. The downtown Cleveland facility will serve as the new headquarters of the Cavs, and it's expected to open in 2027.
"When you look at the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center opening up in 2027 and then you look at the [WNBA] team starting in 2028, the sequence of these events were not upon accident," Barlage said. "These were very strategic. … We know it was very attractive to the WNBA when they were evaluating all the bids."
Adding games to Rocket Arena's slate during the Cavs offseason is a glaring perk for Gilbert and Co.
"Dan has always looked at these [teams] as community assets and wanting to impact to downtown Cleveland," said Grant Gilbert , Cavaliers vice president of basketball and business operations and Dan Gilbert's son. "I think doing things along these lines has always sort of been part of the plan.
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"Being able to do this now at a 365 calendar year and constantly be able to positively impact economic activity, growth and things happening downtown, I think is just part of the larger vision that everyone's really excited about."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10), center Jarrett Allen (31) and guard Donovan Mitchell (45) dance with mascot Moondog dressed as Cavs Frog after the Cavs defeated the Chicago Bulls to improve to 14-0 on Nov. 16, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cavaliers ready to welcome Cleveland's WNBA team
Rock Entertainment Group wants synergy between the Cavs and Cleveland's WNBA team.
Cavs All-Star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland expressed excitement about the WNBA's return to Cleveland in a video posted on social media.
"You know who's most excited is Donovan Mitchell," Altman said. "He's so pumped. So is Darius [Garland], our [Cavs] players. I think it's lost on how much it's going to impact the men's side. I think from our standpoint from the men's side, we are really excited to welcome in the women, and I know how much it's going to enhance our overall program and our offerings and the idea creation and the sharing.
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"We have some ideas of a [WNBA] team president, GM, coach, building a real infrastructure. [We want] great people [who] have attitude, positivity, that breathe life into the program. We want culture drivers, and so in a lot of ways it's going to mirror what we do with the Cavs."
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com . On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Caitlin Clark, Women's Final Four catalysts for WNBA back in Cleveland
