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Why the WNBA chose to tip off in SF

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Skip to main contentYou are the owner of this article.Edit ArticleAdd New ArticleYou have permission to edit this article.EditHomeNewsCultureSportsForumHomesSpecial SectionsNob Hill GazetteSFWeeklyOnline FeaturesThe Golden State Warriors paid a “significant and record-breaking” expansion fee to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area, according to the league's commissioner.WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke alongside Warriors officials and San Francisco Mayor London Breed&nbsp;during a Thursday morning press conference at Chase Center, hours after the NBA's board of governors approved the Warriors' bid for the league's 13th team. She did not disclose the expansion fee, saying only that it broke the league's previous record.Sportico reported on Thursday that the Warriors had “committed a record $50 million” over 10 years, but the outlet said it was unclear whether that was just the expansion fee or if it included subsequent spending on the franchise. The Atlanta Dream, the WNBA's last expansion team in 2008, fetched a $10 million expansion fee from its original owner.“We've used three consistent pillars when evaluating the data for an expansion team: a team in a city that provides a platform for deep and innovative fan engagement, has a clear path for stakeholder and franchise success, and adds value to the current WNBA content, media and entertainment footprint,” Engelbert said Thursday.“The San Francisco Bay Area has proven to meet the mark and well exceed the mark in each of those three areas,” she said.Engelbert said the league spent the last 18 months meeting with potential bidders, including representatives from Sacramento, Portland, Philadelphia and Toronto. The WNBA hopes to add another team in 2025 to balance out its conferences, and The Athletic reported Thursday that Portland is still under “strong consideration.”The WNBA accepted the Warriors' bid as the league's franchise values are exploding and interest in the league rises. The Seattle Storm, an expansion team founded in 2000, were valued at $151 million earlier this year, setting a record for a U.S. women's professional sports team. The WNBA said last month that the 2023 regular season was its most watched in more than two decades, and the league averaged its best attendance since 2008.Joe Lacob, the Warriors’ majority owner and former primary backer of the San Jose Lasers in the now-defunct American Basketball League, said that the expansion team “is a very exciting moment to fulfill a dream I've always had for women's basketball.”Inspectors issued a notice of violation to the Mint Plaza building, which has 90 days to get back in compliancePedro Almodóvar's "Strange Way of Life"&nbsp;tackles masculinity in new Western film&nbsp;Feinstein was remembered for her tenacity and commitment to The City through her long political career&nbsp;“The league is ready for this expansion,” he said. “Women's basketball, in general, is taking off. Women's sports, in general, is taking off in a big way.”Chase Center will serve as the WNBA team's home arena, giving it another tenant while the Warriors are (largely) out of season. This past WNBA regular season ran from May to September, while the NBA regular season goes from October to April.Breed said the addition of a WNBA team will bolster The City's ongoing development of nearby Mission Rock, a mixed-used waterfront space that will eventually offer 1,200 new apartments and 1.7 million square feet of commercial space.“What the Warriors brought to this particular area has been really amazing because it centers around working and supporting the community and bringing people in,” Breed said. “It has really brought a lot of joy and a lot of life to a neighborhood once neglected.”“This is just one step further to making sure that the public understands and realizes the value of what San Francisco does in terms of being this place that is not only an amazing, beautiful city, but also a beacon of hope for even the next generation with this big step forward to support women from around the world.”While Golden State's WNBA team will play in San Francisco, the team's practice facilities and front office will be located in Oakland. Engelbert said the opportunity to have a presence on both sides of the Bay Bridge “was certainly something that was attractive” to the league.Many other details about the team are still up in the air. Engelbert said the league won't hold its expansion draft until late next year, and its format isn't yet finalized. The team doesn't have a name, either: Lacob didn't even say whether Golden State would be in the WNBA team's name.“I think you can probably assume it's going to be reflective of the entirety of the Bay Area in some way,” he said.jsalazar@sfexaminer.com@jamesbewritingOur PartnersPoliticsWarriorsEducationMovies and TVClimateSportsIn 1970, one of two chartered twin-engine planes flying the Wichita State University football team to Utah crashed into a mountain near Silver Plume, Colorado, killing 31 of the 40 people on boardSorry, an error occurred.Get StartedLog InYou are logged in&nbsp;Switch accountsHave an account? 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Skip to main contentYou are the owner of this article.Edit ArticleAdd New ArticleYou have permission to edit this article.EditHomeNewsCultureSportsForumHomesSpecial SectionsNob Hill GazetteSFWeeklyOnline FeaturesThe Golden State Warriors paid a “significant and record-breaking” expansion fee to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area, according to the league's commissioner.WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke alongside Warriors officials and San Francisco Mayor London Breed&nbsp;during a Thursday morning press conference at Chase Center, hours after the NBA's board of governors approved the...

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James Salazar

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Why the WNBA chose to tip off in SF

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