Sports
Nashville is WNBA expansion possibility by 2025, Cathy Engelbert says – Tennessean
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the WNBA could add two teams by 2025 and Nashville is on the list being considered.
Engelbert, speaking at the Sports Business Journal Brand Innovation Summit, mentioned Nashville along with Denver, Austin, Philadelphia, Toronto, San Francisco and Charlotte as cities the league is considering for expansion.
“There’s a lot of cities on the list,” Engelbert said. “Now you don’t want to derogate the quality of the game and just add teams to add teams. So we wanted to make sure we were in a good position with the transformation to add those teams.”
When asked about the timeline for expansion Engelbert said, “We’re getting there. I’m hoping in 2025 we add a couple of teams and then we’ll see how it goes then thereafter.”
Last October, Engelbert first announced the league was considering expansion beyond its current 12 teams. That came soon after Nashville’s Sports Authority Board commissioned a study to gauge local resident, tourist and advertiser interest in having a professional women’s sports team.
The study revealed there was significant interest in women’s professional sports in Nashville but that an WNBA team would need an investor group willing to cover team expenses and a location for its games.
“I definitely am hopeful we will be able to indicate what a strong market Nashville is for women’s basketball,” said Margaret Behm, who served on the Sports Authority committee. “We’ve done the work so that we’ll have information to show the WNBA that this area loves women’s basketball.”
Nashville’s initial interest in the WNBA came in 2021 when Convention & Visitors Corp president and CEO Butch Spyridon mentioned what it would take to bring a franchise here.
“We would love to see a professional women’s team to call Nashville home,” Spyridon told The Tennessean. “Available venue space and a majority owner are key next steps.”
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
