WNBA Announces Warriors' Bay Area Expansion Team for 2025 Season

The WNBA confirmed Thursday it's adding an expansion franchise in San Francisco that will be begin play in 2025.

The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II first reported Sept. 26 the WNBA was nearing a deal with the Golden State Warriors' ownership to bring a team to the Bay Area. This is the league's first expansion franchise since the Atlanta Dream in 2008.

"We are thrilled about expanding to the Bay Area and bringing the WNBA to a region with passionate basketball fans and a strong history of supporting women's basketball," Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

"Joe Lacob, Peter Guber and their leadership team know how to build and operate a world-class organization, as witnessed by the immense success the Warriors' franchise has enjoyed from both a business and basketball perspective over the last decade. Their interest in joining the WNBA family is yet another sign of the league's growth potential."

The Bay Area WNBA team will stage its games at Chase Center in San Francisco and practice out of the Warriors' old team facility in Oakland.

Fans have been pining for expansion for the last few years with the WNBA's popularity broadly on the rise. The league said in September the 2023 regular season was the most-viewed in 21 years, and its total attendance had risen by 16 percent.

Engelbert had said the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted the original plans to move beyond 12 franchises, a number that had remained since 2010.

Once expansion became a realistic possibility, San Francisco or Oakland was one of the most logical candidates. The infrastructure and fanbase is already there to support a new team, and the Warriors' ownership has a track record of investing large sums in both player payroll and amenities.

All of the pieces are in place for the WNBA to not only get a stable home but also thrive in the Bay Area.