The
Cleveland Rockers were Cleveland's first
Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, playing from the league's establishment in 1997 until 2003, when the Gund family decided to not continue operating the team. With no local ownership to be found, the Rockers officially ceased operations in December 2003. In February 2025, it was reported that Cleveland would likely get a WNBA expansion franchise for the 2028 season; said franchise would be owned by
Dan Gilbert (owner of the
NBA's
Cleveland Cavaliers,
G League's
Cleveland Charge and
AHL's
Cleveland Monsters) under his Rock Entertainment Group, would join the Cavaliers and Monsters at
Rocket Arena and would move into the Cavaliers' practice facility in
Independence when the Cavs' new practice facility, the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, was completed. As the WNBA considered Cleveland for an expansion franchise, it helped to arrange conversations between the
Mohegan Tribe, owners of the
Connecticut Sun and Gilbert about selling the Sun to his group and
relocating the team to Cleveland. This was proposed as an alternative to Cleveland getting an expansion franchise. Gilbert and the Mohegan Tribe could not come to an agreement, reportedly due to the sale price of the Sun. Cleveland was awarded the WNBA's 16th franchise on June 30, to begin play in the 2028 season; on the same day the 17th franchise was awarded to
Detroit to begin play in 2029 and the 18th to
Philadelphia to begin play in 2030. It was reported on July 12 that the WNBA no longer owned the trademark to the "Cleveland Rockers" name. According to records from the
United States Patent and Trademark Office, the name was officially registered to Ryan Reed, owner and president of the Women's Basketball League, in October 2024. ==References==