The following is a timeline of organizational changes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a women's professional basketball league in the United States that began play in 1997 with 8 teams and now comprises 15 teams (scheduled to expand to 18 by 2030). This article includes expansions, contractions, and relocations.

Timeline

Summary + WNBA expansion and contraction Season(s) No. of teams 1997 8 1998 10 1999 12 2000–2002 16 2003 14 2004–2005 13 2006 14 2007 13 2008 14 2009 13 2010–2024 12 2025 13 2026–2027 15 2028 16 2029 17 2030 18

Relocated teams Orlando Miracle (1999–2002) – relocated to Connecticut, to become the Connecticut Sun (2003–2026), relocating to Houston, to become the Houston Comets in 2027. Utah Starzz (1997–2002) – relocated to San Antonio to become the San Antonio Silver Stars (2003–2013), rebranded as the San Antonio Stars (2014–2017), and relocated again to Paradise, Nevada, to become the Las Vegas Aces (2018–present) Detroit Shock (1998–2009) – relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to become the Tulsa Shock (2010–2015) and then to Arlington, Texas, to become the Dallas Wings (2016–present)

Folded teams Charlotte Sting – 1997–2006 Cleveland Rockers – 1997–2003 Houston Comets – 1997–2008 Miami Sol – 2000–2002 Sacramento Monarchs – 1997–2009

1997–2002: Early years 1997: Inaugural season (8 teams) The league operated its inaugural season in 1997 with eight teams split into two conferences. + 1997 WNBA teams Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Los Angeles Sparks Cleveland Rockers Phoenix Mercury Houston Comets Sacramento Monarchs New York Liberty Utah Starzz

1998: First expansion (10 teams)

The Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics were added and placed in the Eastern Conference. The Houston Comets moved to the Western Conference.

Team's first season in the WNBA *Team switched conferences ‡ + 1998 WNBA teams Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets ‡ Cleveland Rockers Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock * Phoenix Mercury New York Liberty Sacramento Monarchs Washington Mystics * Utah Starzz

1999: Second expansion (12 teams)

The Minnesota Lynx and Orlando Miracle were added. The Miracle were placed in the Eastern Conference, while the Lynx were placed in the Western Conference.

Team's first season in the WNBA * + 1999 WNBA teams Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets Cleveland Rockers Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock Minnesota Lynx * New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury Orlando Miracle * Sacramento Monarchs Washington Mystics Utah Starzz

2000–2001: Third expansion (16 teams)

The Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, and Seattle Storm were added. The Fever and the Sol were placed in the Eastern Conference, while the Fire and the Storm were placed in the Western Conference.

Team's first season in the WNBA (2000) * + 2000 to 2001 WNBA teams Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets Cleveland Rockers Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever * Phoenix Mercury Miami Sol * Portland Fire * New York Liberty Sacramento Monarchs Orlando Miracle Seattle Storm * Washington Mystics Utah Starzz

2002: Miami and Portland fold (16 teams)

The Miami Sol and Portland Fire folded after the season.

Team folded after the season † + 2002 WNBA season Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets Cleveland Rockers Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever Phoenix Mercury Miami Sol † Portland Fire † New York Liberty Sacramento Monarchs Orlando Miracle Seattle Storm Washington Mystics Utah Starzz

2003–2009: Contraction 2003: Orlando and Utah relocate, Cleveland folds (14 teams)

The Orlando Miracle relocated to Connecticut to become the Connecticut Sun. The Utah Starzz relocated to San Antonio to become the San Antonio Silver Stars. The Cleveland Rockers folded after the season.

Team folded after the season † + 2003 WNBA season Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets Connecticut Sun Los Angeles Sparks Cleveland Rockers † Minnesota Lynx Detroit Shock Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever Sacramento Monarchs New York Liberty San Antonio Silver Stars Washington Mystics Seattle Storm

2004–2005 (13 teams)

+ 2004 to 2005 WNBA season Eastern Western Charlotte Sting Houston Comets Connecticut Sun Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever Phoenix Mercury New York Liberty Sacramento Monarchs Washington Mystics San Antonio Silver Stars Seattle Storm

2006: Chicago added and Charlotte folds (14 teams)

The Chicago Sky was added and placed in the Eastern Conference. The Charlotte Sting folded after the season.

Team's first season in the WNBA *Team folded after the season † + 2006 WNBA season Eastern Western Charlotte Sting † Houston Comets Chicago Sky * Los Angeles Sparks Connecticut Sun Minnesota Lynx Detroit Shock Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever Sacramento Monarchs New York Liberty San Antonio Silver Stars Washington Mystics Seattle Storm

2007 (13 teams)

+ 2007 WNBA season Eastern Western Chicago Sky Houston Comets Connecticut Sun Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever Phoenix Mercury New York Liberty Sacramento Monarchs Washington Mystics San Antonio Silver Stars Seattle Storm

2008: Atlanta added and Houston folds (14 teams) The Atlanta Dream was added and placed in the Eastern Conference. The Houston Comets folded after the season.

Team's first season in the WNBA *Team folded after the season † + 2008 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream * Houston Comets † Chicago Sky Los Angeles Sparks Connecticut Sun Minnesota Lynx Detroit Shock Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever Sacramento Monarchs New York Liberty San Antonio Silver Stars Washington Mystics Seattle Storm

2009: Sacramento folds (13 teams) The Sacramento Monarchs folded after the season.

Team folded after the season † + 2009 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Los Angeles Sparks Chicago Sky Minnesota Lynx Connecticut Sun Phoenix Mercury Detroit Shock Sacramento Monarchs † Indiana Fever San Antonio Silver Stars New York Liberty Seattle Storm Washington Mystics

2010–2024: Relocations

2010: Detroit relocates (12 teams) The Detroit Shock relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma to become the Tulsa Shock and moved to the Western Conference.

Team switched conferences ‡ + 2010 to 2013 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Los Angeles Sparks Chicago Sky Minnesota Lynx Connecticut Sun Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever San Antonio Silver Stars New York Liberty Seattle Storm Washington Mystics Tulsa Shock ‡

2014: San Antonio rebrands (12 teams) The San Antonio Silver Stars rebranded as the San Antonio Stars.

+ 2014 to 2015 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Los Angeles Sparks Chicago Sky Minnesota Lynx Connecticut Sun Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever San Antonio Stars New York Liberty Seattle Storm Washington Mystics Tulsa Shock

2016: Tulsa relocates (12 teams) The Tulsa Shock relocated to Arlington, Texas to become the Dallas Wings. + 2016 to 2017 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Dallas Wings Chicago Sky Los Angeles Sparks Connecticut Sun Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever Phoenix Mercury New York Liberty San Antonio Stars Washington Mystics Seattle Storm

2018: San Antonio relocates (12 teams) The San Antonio Stars relocated to Paradise, Nevada to become the Las Vegas Aces.

+ 2018 to 2024 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Dallas Wings Chicago Sky Las Vegas Aces Connecticut Sun Los Angeles Sparks Indiana Fever Minnesota Lynx New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury Washington Mystics Seattle Storm

2025–future: Expansion era 2025: Golden State added (13 teams) The Golden State Valkyries were added and placed in the Western Conference.

Team's first season in the WNBA * + 2025 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Dallas Wings Chicago Sky Golden State Valkyries * Connecticut Sun Las Vegas Aces Indiana Fever Los Angeles Sparks New York Liberty Minnesota Lynx Washington Mystics Phoenix Mercury Seattle Storm

2026: Portland and Toronto added (15 teams) Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo were added. The Fire were placed in the Western Conference, while the Tempo were placed in the Eastern Conference.

Team's first season in the WNBA * + 2026 WNBA season Eastern Western Atlanta Dream Dallas Wings Chicago Sky Golden State Valkyries Connecticut Sun Las Vegas Aces Indiana Fever Los Angeles Sparks New York Liberty Minnesota Lynx Toronto Tempo * Phoenix Mercury Washington Mystics Portland Fire * Seattle Storm

2027: Connecticut Sun moving to Houston (15 teams) In March 2026, it was reported that the Connecticut Sun were sold to the Fertitta family, owners of the Houston Rockets, for $300 million, who would move the team to Houston, previously home to the Houston Comets.

2028–2030: Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to be added (18 teams) On June 30, 2025, the WNBA announced that it would expand to Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030), bringing the total to 18 teams. Cleveland and Detroit previously were WNBA markets.

Background The WNBA's exponential growth and popularity in recent years has led to rising expansion fees. The Golden State Valkyries, the league’s 13th franchise that began play in May 2025, paid $50 million to join, while the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire — the 14th and 15th franchises scheduled to begin play in 2026 — paid $115 million and $125 million, respectively.

The deadline for the next expansion bids was January 30, 2025. At the time, the bids were believed to be for a 16th expansion team. League commissioner Cathy Engelbert had said she was aiming to have the league expand to 16 teams by 2028. However, as expansion fees continued to rise, the league rethought its original plan of adding just one more expansion team. Each new team will pay $250 million in franchise fees to join the league.

Cleveland Sirens Cleveland was previously home to the Rockers, one of the WNBA’s original eight members when the league began play in 1997. However, the franchise folded after the 2003 season when former owner Gordon Gund could not sell the team due to tumbling revenue and erratic attendance.

The new team will play at Rocket Arena, home of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers. On August 4, 2026, the team's name was revealed as the Cleveland Sirens.

Detroit Detroit was previously home to the Shock, one of the WNBA’s first expansion teams when it began play in 1998. Between 1998 and 2009, the Shock won three WNBA championships. However, the team’s low fan attendance led the franchise to relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2009, where it played until 2015. The franchise moved again in 2015, to Arlington, Texas, and are now called the Dallas Wings.

The new team will play at Little Caesars Arena, home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The WNBA coincidentally filed a trademark application for the name “Detroit Shock” the same day Tom Gores, owner of the Pistons, submitted his offer for a WNBA expansion team, a potential sign of the league’s intentions to revive the team name.

Philadelphia Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), which also owns the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), submitted a bid for an expansion team. When Harris partnered with Comcast on a new arena in South Philadelphia, the priority was to house a WNBA team along with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

See also List of WNBA seasons Timeline of women's basketball

References