Back in the Game, Women’s Sports Return to Cleveland
- Abigayle Cragin
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Women's sports are coming (back) to Cleveland in a huge way with game play starting as soon as next year.
With funding from the Cleveland Soccer Group, the Women's Premiere Soccer League will bring a Division II professional women's soccer team to downtown Cleveland. (WSPL Pro). The league has run into some problems securing a physical location for their stadium. Our own Cleveland State University has begun negotiations with the United Soccer League to renovate the historic Wolstein Center to suit the needs of a professional soccer league. (WKYC).
In 2028, another women’s pro team is coming to The Land. The Women's National Basketball Association will enter the scene by establishing a team in Cleveland, operated by Rock Entertainment Group/Cleveland Cavaliers and will play in the Rocket Arena. (WNBA). In August of this year, the franchise announced that Allison Howard has been named team president, set to oversee ticket sales, corporate partnership, and youth sports programming. (ESPN).
Though, this isn’t the first time Cleveland supported women’s basketball. For six years the Cleveland Rockers played professional women’s basketball downtown, sharing the Cavs uniform colors with the addition of silver; the team ultimately disbanded in 2003 due to declining attendance and financial losses. (CWRU).
Clevelanders are already taking huge strides in welcoming women’s sports to The Land. In May of this year, three local fans opened The W Sports Bar, the first women’s sports bar located in Cleveland. The owners strive to create a completely inclusive, safe, and comfortable community space that celebrates their dedication to women's (and men’s) sports. (The Land).
Community spaces like The W are essential to the promulgation of women’s sports here in Cleveland, and across the country. Before 2025, there were only six women's sports bars across the U.S., but by the end of this year it is projected that there will be a total of at least twenty-three throughout the country—that is over a 280% increase. (NBC News).
Notwithstanding the very serious barriers to access that do still exist today, the tide is shifting in the favor of girls' and women’s sports, even right here in our own backyard.
SOURCES (in order of appearance):
Women’s Premiere Soccer League (WPSL Pro):
WKYC:
WNBA:
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU):
The Land:
NBC NEWS:
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