The WNBA might be expanding to Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia by 2030, but that doesn't mean those are the cities that the league's players might have chosen if they'd be in charge. Wednesday's results of The Athletic's annual anonymous player survey revealed that players by and large would prefer to play in Miami — which happens to be the home of Unrivaled, the 3x3 league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
The Athletic polled around 40 players (no rookies allowed) throughout the first half of the 2025 season. Questions ranged from who will be the face of the league in five years (Caitlin Clark), to who talks the most trash in the WNBA (Alyssa Thomas) to what's an ideal WNBA expansion city (Miami).
The outlet noted that some players were polled before the WNBA announced its expansion plans, and some were polled after. Miami ran away with 37.1% of the vote, followed by Nashville with 14.3%, Boston with 11.4%, Charlotte with 11.4%, Cleveland with 5.7%, Houston with 5.7%, and other cities (including Austin, Denver, Philadelphia, Vancouver, and "somewhere in the southeast") racking up the remaining 14.3% of the vote.
Even players who wouldn't call Miami their home base said they appreciated having the idea of having the opportunity to travel to the coastal city for away games. The city would also give the WNBA more of a presence in the southeastern US, where only one team (the Atlanta Dream) currently exists. As one player pointed out, there are "a lot of girls" who play basketball in the region, but not many teams nearby.
The WNBA announced more expansion plans in June
News that the league will roll out teams in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030) was announced at the end of June. Both Cleveland and Detroit have been home to WNBA teams before (the Rockers and the Shock, respectively), and Philadelphia will be entering into the league for the first time.
The cities beat out bids from around the country, including one in Nashville that includes backing from Candace Parker. The Tennessee group has stated they intend to continue to pursue a team for the city in the future.
Bringing back the WNBA to Cleveland is an especially victorious moment for the city, as the Rockers were one of the eight original teams when the WNBA debuted in 1997. The others were in Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, New York, and Utah.