In an period dominated by social media, ladies’s basketball is experiencing a second like by no means earlier than. Brittney Griner is again. The WNBA has numerous storylines. And due to Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and Jill Biden, the collegiate recreation is shattering TV scores. But, for the sport to achieve one other degree one factor should occur — WNBA enlargement, which can result in extra roster spots on the planet’s greatest ladies’s skilled basketball league.
Too many gamers, not sufficient roster spots
The WNBA has a numbers drawback. Too many gamers, and never sufficient jobs. According to Just Women’s Sports, solely 15 of the 36 drafted gamers from the 2023 WNBA Draft had been on opening day rosters to begin the season. With solely 12 groups within the league, there are solely 144 roster spots within the WNBA. This 12 months alone, the No. 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, and thirty sixth picks all had been at dwelling when the season started.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a brand new drawback. In 2021, solely eight gamers from that draft appeared on opening day rosters. In 2022, the quantity was 15, the identical as this 12 months. And when you can say the numbers are bettering, it nonetheless signifies that being a first-round choose within the WNBA doesn’t assure you a job.
“The very first thing after I got here in, I mentioned, ‘OK, we have 12 teams in a country of over 300 million people. That is not enough,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert back in February. “So that’s why we do discuss enlargement, and you need to be in additional cities to develop extra fandom. So that leads me to be right here right now.”
Nashville, Philly amongst enlargement metropolis choices
According to The Athletic, Nashville, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, and Toronto are the cities that may very well be the very best choices for enlargement. Just a couple of weeks in the past, the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky performed an exhibition recreation in Toronto for the league’s first recreation in Canada earlier than the beginning of the twenty seventh season.
“The energy was amazing. When we came out, the seats were filled to the top and they were cheering already. I was blown away,” mentioned Sky head coach James Wade. “You guys have one thing particular right here, in Toronto. I noticed so many Maple Leafs jerseys, baseball jerseys and thought ‘The WNBA deserves that too.”
When the WNBA started there were only eight teams. At one point, it grew to 16 franchises. It’s now right down to 12, with the Atlanta Dream (2008) being the newest enlargement crew. Between the collegiate recreation, the dominance of Team USA, and the rising buzz across the WNBA, ladies’s basketball is experiencing a rightful, and long-overdue, recognition peak. If this isn’t the very best second to develop the sport, then I don’t know what’s. Besides, in a post-Brittney Griner world, we have to give our ladies the very best possibilities to play at dwelling.