Is the WNBA Expanding Too Fast for Its Own Good?

The WNBA has undergone some exponential growth recently. Whether it be Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Napheessa Collier, or Paige Bueckers- the amount of starpower present within the league is incredibly exciting, and the numbers are backing it up. The WNBA averaged 440 thousand viewers throughout the 2023 season. Just one season later, and 1.4 million people are tuning into WNBA games on average. It’s something I’ve noticed in my own day to day life as well.

Two years ago, I probably couldn’t name a single WNBA team, and would’ve struggled to name even five players. Fast forward to today, and I regularly talk about the WNBA as part of my daily sports conversations with my younger brother. My LSU loyalties have led me to follow Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, but I’ve only become more invested in the rest of the league as well. The league seems to be capitalizing on this success, and it would be silly not to. One way in which they are doing so is by creating expansion teams. The Golden State Valkyries are playing their inaugural season this year, and franchises based in Toronto, Portland, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia aim to join the league one at a time on an annual basis, meaning that the current league total of 13 teams will be raised to 18 by 2030. This has mustered excitement from basketball fans across the country, and as someone who comes from a city that doesn’t have a WNBA team, I can certainly understand the hype.

However, it’s raised areas of concern from other fans, and many are asking the same question: is the WNBA hindering their own growth by expanding at too rapid of a rate?

Los Angeles Sparks star Cameron Brink caught headlines earlier this year, when she said that the league should be focusing on expanding roster sizes before adding new teams. Brink commented on the fact that the current WNBA roster size is 12, saying that, “It’s so unfortunate that the roster can only hold 12. Personally, I think roster sizes need to be expanded before we add any more expansion teams. It’s kind of crazy. 12 people for a roster. It’s insane.” As easy as it is to hop on the expansion team bandwagon, Brink raises a valid point, and one that I believe the WNBA needs to take more seriously.

It’s not that expansion teams aren’t a good way to grow the league. It’s more a matter of  it’s not worth the effort of creating five new franchises in a five year span if the league isn’t willing to take what measures they can to commit to the development of the league right now. WNBA teams can have a maximum of 12 players on a roster. Their counterparts in the NBA can have 15 players, and three two-way players, meaning they can have a maximum of 18 players on their roster. This means that NBA teams have more of a chance to develop players, with the eventual hope of them having a regular spot in the lineup. Yes, two way contracts in the WNBA would first require a minor league system, which is an entirely different discussion. However, the 12 player rule is just a maximum for the WNBA. The Indiana Fever only fielded a roster of 11 players this season in order to comply with spending rules.

Larger roster sizes means more room for player development. Sure, not all of these players are going to develop into first team starters. But someone who isn’t able to start on the best team in the league very well may be able to start on a potentially lower level team. Having this system of moving talented players throughout the league makes the overall quality of the league better- and having more teams means there’s more chances for more players to develop. But, smaller roster sizes hinders this by a significant degree. There were 5,048 Division I women’s basketball athletes in 2024. The amount for the men’s game was a very similar 5,607. The reason I bring this up is because there’s no reason the WNBA can’t expand roster sizes. The NBA has 30 teams, with 18 maximum roster spots each. That’s 540 spots that are populated by talented college athletes in the draft each year. For contrast, the WNBA’s 12 maximum spots across 13 teams allows only 156 professional spots. Even when the league is expanded to 18 teams, if they keep the same roster rules, there will still only be 234 spots in the WNBA despite having over 5,600 Women’s Division I athletes each year.

There’s no reason the WNBA can’t create more roster spots, and there’s plenty of reason as to why they should. Expansion teams and new markets opening up is an incredibly exciting verdict, but the WNBA must capitalize on what they can do now in order to make the most out of these expansion teams. The WNBA is an incredible spectacle, and one that I consider myself a fan of. The fans deserve for the league to reach its full potential, and I believe that the way to do that is to expand roster sizes in order to maximize growth.