WNBA announces Bay Area expansion for 2025

The WNBA announced the addition of a Bay Area expansion team through a pair of Thursday tweets. 

The team will begin play in the 2025 season, according to a Thursday release.

The new team will play its home games at the Chase Center in San Francisco. It will be owned by Golden State Warriors co-executive chairmen Joe Lacob and Peter Guber and be the WNBA's first expansion franchise since the Atlanta Dream entered the league 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," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in Thursday's release. "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 2023 WNBA season was its most watched regular season in 21 years, according to a September release from WNBA.com. After a successful season, more expansion and investment in the WNBA can only add more exciting rivalries and opportunities to tap in to high-potential basketball markets. Most importantly, it continues to open the door for talented players to compete with the best the league has to offer. 

"I hope that there will be more teams so that everybody has an opportunity, because there are so many great players and they currently only have 144 (roster spots) in the league. I want the WNBA to grow," LSU forward Angel Reese said in August, via USA TODAY Sports NOW reporter Cydney Henderson. "So hopefully, by the time I and Caitlin Clark and all these other players go out, there will be opportunities for others to get on a team."