The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia all set to join the league by 2030.

Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. Toronto and Portland will enter the league next year.

“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”

All three new teams announced Monday have NBA ownership groups. Each paid a $250 million expansion fee, which is about five times as much as Golden State dished out for a team a few years ago. All three teams will also be investing more money through building practice facilities and other such amenities.

“It’s such a natural fit that when you already have this basketball-related infrastructure, these strategies, cultures that you find to be successful, combinations of personnel that you find to be successful,” said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. “Extending that into the WNBA, is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.”

Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past and Philadelphia was the home for an ABL team.

“This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,” Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. “Today marks the long-hoped-for return of the WNBA to a city with deep basketball roots and a championship tradition. Detroit played a key role in the league’s early growth, and we’re proud to reignite that legacy as the WNBA ascends to new heights. Our plans will bring new energy, investment and infrastructure to our city and the WNBA, and additional resources to our community.”

Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team.

The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play at the NBA arenas that currently exist, while Philadelphia is planning on a new building that will be completed hopefully by 2030.

Adding these three teams will give the league more natural rivalries with another team on the East Coast and Detroit and Cleveland near each other.

Other cities that bid on teams that didn’t get them include St. Louis; Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Houston; Miami; Denver; and Charlotte, N.C.

“We didn’t know the demand would be where the demand ended up when we ran the process last fall into the winter,” Engelbert said. “But one thing I’m very struck by as we get into a new media deal, as the media market evolves, you know, being in these three big basketball cities is going to help from a media perspective, a corporate partners perspective.”

All the metrics, such as attendance, television ratings and sponsorships, have been on the rise the last few seasons.

ALL-STAR STARTERS

Paige Bueckers will play in her first WNBA All-Star Game while Nneka Ogwumike has earned her 10th selection, the league announced Monday as it named the players who will join Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier as All-Star starters.

Bueckers, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Dallas Wings, will be the 10th rookie to start the game. It’s the third straight season it’s happened, with Clark getting a start last year and Aliyah Boston in 2013. Bueckers is ranked 11th in the league in scoring (18.4 points) and sixth in assists (5.8) to lead all rookies in both categories. She received the sixth most votes from the fans.

Ogwumike, an eight-time All-Star with the Sparks who now stars for Seattle, is tied for the third-most All-Star appearances with Tamika Catchings and Brittney Griner. She trails only Sue Bird (13) and Diana Taurasi (11).

Clark and Collier were named captains of the teams on Sunday for receiving the most fan votes. The pair will draft their teams by choosing among the other starters as well as the 12 reserves chosen by coaches. The reserves will be announced this weekend.

New York’s Breanna Stewart and Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson each earned a seventh All-Star nod and will be in the starting lineup. Other starters selected Monday by a combination of fan, media and player voting included guards Allisha Gray of Atlanta and Sabrina Ionescu of New York. The frontcourt also will feature Phoenix’s Satou Sabally and Boston, Clark’s Indiana teammate.

The starters were selected from across the WNBA without regard to conference affiliation. Players and a media panel joined fans in selecting the starters. Fans voting accounted for 50%, while the player and media votes each accounted for 25%.

The game will be played in Indianapolis on July 19.