The Chicago Sky take on the Minnesota Lynx during the first half of a preseason WNBA basketball game in Toronto, Saturday May 13, 2023. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Bay Area is one step away from being awarded a WNBA team.
The NBA Board of Governors is set to vote this week on the Warriors being part of the WNBA’s plans to expand, according to league sources. All signs point to the vote being in favor of Warriors owner Joe Lacob getting a team, sources said, and a formal announcement could come as soon as Thursday.
USA Today reported that a formal announcement could come as soon as Thursday, just four days before the WNBA Finals tip off between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces.
The Bay Area would be adding a professional women’s basketball team just months after the National Women’s Soccer League announced expansion to the region, with Bay FC set to begin play next summer.
The WNBA team is expected to practice at the Warriors’ Oakland facility and play at Chase Center. With an announcement imminent, the team could be up and running in time for the 2025 season.
The news comes a week after a report that the Warriors and WNBA were closing in on a deal, and a Warriors spokesperson confirmed there had been “productive talks” between Golden State and the WNBA. Now, Lacob’s long-held goal of bringing a WNBA franchise to the Bay is coming to fruition.
The Warriors were one of two potential ownership groups making a case to bring the WNBA to the Bay. The African American Sports and Entertainment Group, the competing Oakland bid led by 16-year WNBA star Alana Beard, appeared to have lost steam in its pursuit of an expansion team over the last few months.
Originally published at Madeline Kenney