Washington Mystics v Indiana Fever
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The WNBA is expanding and one veteran in the league appears unimpressed by the cities the league chose to add teams to. The league announced on Monday that an expansion to Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.

Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham didn't hold back on her thoughts on the expansion, saying two of the cities might not have much appeal.

"Man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]," she said. 

She had some recommendations for places the WNBA could have chosen, suggesting players would be happier elsewhere.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Like where do they want to play?" she said, discussing the selection process. "Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I think Miami would have been a great one. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There's a huge arena downtown that nobody is using."

Cleveland and Detroit residents and fans will no doubt feel slighted by these comments and there is already a responses from the cities. The official City of Cleveland X (formerly Twitter) account responded with a video of Caitlin Clark praising the city and what it has to offer, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The account said, "Sophie, your teammate doesn't seem to think Cleveland is too bad! We're proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!"

The official City of Detroit social media account also defended themselves as a sports town and as a place players will feel appreciated by fans. 

"The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals. Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We're sure we'll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning," their post said.

Cleveland was one of the original eight WNBA teams, with the Cleveland Rockers playing from 1997 to 2003. The new team in The Land will be owned by Rock Entertainment Group, led by Dan Gilbert, which also owns the Cavaliers

Detroit had a team from 1998 to 2009, winning three championships, before the Shock relocated to Oklahoma, then Dallas as the Wings. This will be Philly's first WNBA franchise and will be owned by the ownership group that runs the 76ers.

By 2030, the WNBA will have 18 teams.