Cleveland WNBA

What Cleveland WNBA does

Cleveland WNBA is the WNBA's 16th expansion franchise, announced on June 30, 2025, and owned and operated by Rock Entertainment Group (REG), the umbrella entity under Dan Gilbert's ROCK Family of Companies that also controls the Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Cleveland Monsters (AHL), Cleveland Charge (NBA G League), and Cavs Legion (NBA 2K League). The franchise is scheduled to tip off its inaugural season in 2028 at Rocket Arena, a 19,000-seat downtown Cleveland venue that hosted the sold-out 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four, with training operations at Cleveland Clinic Courts, a 52,000+ sq. ft. exclusive practice facility in Independence, Ohio.

The franchise's core commercial products are season ticket memberships — sold through a $28 Initial Payment priority-wait-list mechanism on the SeatGeek platform and WNBACleveland.com — supplemented by a referral program (W CLE Assist), an SMS alert service (text WCLE to 30594), official merchandise via the Cavaliers Team Shop, and a community activation program featuring 28 unique events engaging 2,665 girls aged 8-17 across Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and Western New York through 17 community partners. As of March 2026, the franchise has collected 8,000+ Initial Payments and appointed Allison Howard as President of Business Operations, Nic Barlage as CEO, and Dan Gilbert as Chairman.

Cleveland WNBA generates no operating revenue to date (2028 debut pending); pre-launch monetization is limited to refundable Initial Payment deposits. The long-term revenue model, typical of WNBA franchises, will comprise gate receipts (season ticket memberships and single-game tickets), local and league-shared sponsorship, merchandise, concessions at Rocket Arena, and a share of WNBA national media and sponsorship distributions. Strategic investors include Monarch Collective (its sole WNBA investment) and a syndicate of minority partners with Ohio ties.

Name

Cleveland WNBA

Legal name

Cleveland WNBA

Website

https://wnbacleveland.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Cleveland WNBA is the WNBA's 16th expansion franchise, owned by Rock Entertainment Group (Dan Gilbert), set to debut in 2028 at Rocket Arena. It sells season ticket memberships via a $28 priority wait-list deposit and runs youth basketball community programming across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Sports Franchise

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Team Sports Clubs (Football/Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Rugby, Cricket, etc.) (MPAKABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Franchise Ownership Groups & Multi-Club Organizations (Multi-team owners, holding companies) (MPAKABAJ), Arenas & Indoor Sports Centers (MPAKAEAB)

Keywords

• Professional basketball franchise
• Women's sports team
• Season ticket memberships
• Community basketball activations
• Sports venue operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales and Season Memberships: Season ticket memberships and individual game tickets sold through SeatGeek platform and official website. Fans place $28 initial payments to secure priority position on wait list for seat selection ahead of inaugural 2028 season.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cleveland WNBA is the WNBA's 16th expansion franchise, owned and operated by Rock Entertainment Group, set to begin play in the 2028 season at Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland. The franchise sells season ticket memberships through a $28 priority wait-list initial payment and offers an official merchandise collection, while building a pre-launch fanbase through community basketball programming for girls aged 8-17 across Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and Western New York.

Product overview

Cleveland WNBA is an expansion WNBA franchise (the league's 16th team) owned and operated by Rock Entertainment Group, set to begin play in the 2028 season. The team offers season ticket memberships through a priority wait-list system with a $28 initial payment, supported by a referral program (W CLE Assist). The franchise has also launched extensive community activation programming for youth basketball development across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The team will play home games at Rocket Arena and train at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence, Ohio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WNBA Cleveland Season Ticket Memberships Priority wait-list membership program offering fans access to purchase season tickets for the inaugural 2028 WNBA season at Rocket Arena. Customers place a $28 initial payment per seat to secure their priority position for seat selection, with every two initial payments earning an exclusive New Era 'W CLE' black corduroy hat with Inaugural Season '28 patch.
• WNBA Retail Collection Official Cleveland WNBA branded merchandise including apparel and accessories, available to fans through the Cavaliers Team Shop online storefront. Targeted at fans and supporters wanting to purchase team-branded merchandise ahead of and during the inaugural 2028 season.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• LiFEsports at The Ohio State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2026Columbus, Ohio partnership for youth basketball skills programming connecting court learning with academic success for 60-100 girls.
• Rock Entertainment GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 March 2026Rock Entertainment Group (REG), formed in 2021 under Dan Gilbert's ROCK Family of Companies, owns and operates Cleveland WNBA. REG oversees portfolio including Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Monsters, Cleveland Charge, and Cavs Legion, managing Rocket Arena and Cleveland Clinic Courts.
• Cleveland CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 March 2026Cleveland Clinic partnered to provide Cleveland Clinic Courts as the exclusive training and practice facility for Cleveland WNBA. Also partnered on Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center opening 2027.
• City of ClevelandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2025Community partner collaborating on youth basketball programming and activations for girls and young women across the Cleveland region.
• Cleveland Metropolitan School DistrictminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2025Educational partner working with Cleveland WNBA on community activations at local schools, community gyms, and recreation centers.
• WNBA LeaguecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2025WNBA granted Cleveland the league's 16th franchise, expanding from 15 teams. Cleveland joins Golden State (2025), Toronto (2026), and Portland (2026) as expansion markets in this growth phase.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Connecticut Sun: WNBA franchise currently undergoing ownership transition. Comparable franchise-level economics and recent transaction comp that informs Cleveland's prospective valuation benchmark.
• Indiana Fever: Established WNBA franchise in the neighboring Midwest region. Comparable fan-base geography and a benchmark for ticket yield, sponsorship rates, and regional broadcast demand that Cleveland can underwrite against.
• Portland Fire: WNBA expansion franchise launching in 2026, returning women's pro basketball to a market with prior franchise history (Portland Power). Comparable trajectory and pre-launch fan acquisition dynamics.
• New York Liberty: Top-quartile WNBA franchise by valuation and attendance. Comparable premium-market WNBA economics and recent private equity investment precedent relevant to Cleveland's capital stack.
• Las Vegas Aces: WNBA's most valuable franchise and on-court benchmark. Comparable league economics, premium arena setting, and high-end corporate sponsorship model that informs Cleveland's revenue ceiling.
• Toronto Tempo: WNBA's 14th franchise, debuting in 2026 alongside Portland. Direct expansion peer with parallel pre-launch ticketing, ownership-building and community-engagement playbook in a new market.
• Chicago Sky: WNBA franchise in the upper Midwest. Geographic adjacency creates overlapping addressable market and provides a comp set for ticket pricing and corporate sponsorship demand in the region.
• Golden State Valkyries: The WNBA's 15th franchise and the most recent expansion team before Cleveland, debuting in 2025. Directly comparable as a new-market WNBA franchise building season-ticket demand, sponsorship pipeline, and brand identity pre-launch.

Broad incumbents

• Cleveland Cavaliers: NBA team under the same Rock Entertainment Group/Dan Gilbert umbrella. Closest sibling franchise in terms of ownership, governance, venue (Rocket Arena) and corporate infrastructure, providing shared back-office scale.

Emerging players

• Angel City FC: NWSL franchise that received a strategic investment from Monarch Collective. Comparable women's-sports franchise leveraging values-aligned institutional capital, providing a comp for Monarch's playbook in Cleveland.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clevelandwnba
• YouTubeyoutube.com/live/baVEdmJ2gtw
• Facebookfacebook.com/ClevelandWNBA
• Instagraminstagram.com/ClevelandWNBA
• TikToktiktok.com/@ClevelandWNBA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cleveland WNBA