The WNBA’s quest to expand beyond the league’s current 12 teams appears to be off and running.

Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob is reportedly leading a group that’s set to bring a new team to the Bay Area. The WNBA franchise would play at the Warriors’ Chase Center and have headquarters at the NBA team’s practice facility in Oakland. An announcement is expected in October.

WNBA expansion has been anticipated for some time now. Earlier this year, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league was eyeing a short list of 10 cities for new teams and hoping to add multiple franchises by 2025.

In addition to the Bay Area, other cities likely still under consideration include Nashville, Toronto, Austin, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Portland. Engelbert also visited Denver over the summer to explore expansion opportunities there.

A Bay Area club would bring the WNBA to 13 teams and add a seventh to its Western Conference — making it all the more likely a 14th club could be on its way soon to make an even number.

Other Side Of The Story

While expansion has been a top priority for the WNBA’s leaders, its players are not completely sold on the idea.

In July, 2022 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson told Front Office Sports she would like to see the league’s current 144 players be better taken care of before adding new expansion clubs or growing teams’ roster sizes.

Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson’s expansive sports ownership portfolio already includes stakes in the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Dodgers, LAFC, Los Angeles Sparks, and esports company aXiomatic. 

Now, he’s looking to return to NBA ownership — with a very specific team.

Thirteen years after shedding his previously held equity stake in the Los Angeles Lakers in pursuit of larger team ownership opportunities, Johnson told the Associated Press that the New York Knicks are the “only team I would probably think about. Other than that, I would probably never think about ever being a part of another franchise.”

Johnson said he received potential ownership opportunities with the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and Atlanta Hawks, but turned them all down instead of competing with the Lakers, where Johnson was also head coach in 1994 and president of basketball operations from 2017-19.

But to him, the Knicks offer a different kind of attraction. “That one, you would really have to think about,” he said.

Johnson acknowledged he hasn’t discussed the notion with Knicks owner and MSG executive chairman James Dolan, and the team is not formally for sale. In a recent New York Times profile about Dolan and his other major project, the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, he said the Knicks are “near and dear to my heart,” but added, “I don’t really like owning teams.”

Last year, the $842 million sale of Ligue 1 side Lyon set a record for French soccer clubs.

Now, the team’s new ownership group is looking to raise $315 million from the bond market and continue to sell off some of its biggest assets, according to the Financial Times.

After acquiring the club, American businessman John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings sold Lyon’s French women’s club, reportedly valued at $54.4 million, to NWSL Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.

Lyon is currently exploring a sale of OL Reign, the NWSL team it owns, based on a similar $50 million valuation. The club is also opening to selling full control of its LDLC arena, a new 16,000-seat, multipurpose venue due to be completed later this year that is separate from Parc Olympique Lyonnais, where Lyon plays its home matches.

The club has hired Goldman Sachs for bond sales that would be secured against the club’s stadium and used to refinance existing loans.

After finishing seventh in Ligue 1 last season, Lyon is currently in 17th place through six matches this year, and thus needing to move up several spots in the table by season’s end to avoid relegation.

Follow The Money

Lyon’s ambitions continue the trend of bringing on major investors into European soccer clubs.

This month, Premier League club Chelsea secured $500 million in new investment, while Florida-based 777 Partners completed a deal to acquire Everton after the EPL club lost a potential investment of up to $190 million from U.S.-based investment group MSP Sports Capital.