Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham expressed skepticism about the WNBA’s decision to choose Detroit and Cleveland as expansion cities, and wondered if the league was trying to expand too rapidly.
The WNBA announced plans to add teams in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030), bringing the league to 18 teams by 2030. They previously announced teams in Portland and Toronto, which are set to begin play next season, while the Golden State Valkyries are currently in their inaugural campaign.
That means more markets for Cunningham’s teammate and face of the league, Caitlin Clark, to visit, which makes sense. Of course, they want to expose their star as much as possible.
That said, there is predominantly one player in the league and one team in which she plays that is drawing more viewers and ticket sales. The league runs the risk of bringing in clubs that are little more than dead weight, in the hopes that Clark will give them a boost a few times a year, even as the ‘W’ loses money hand over fist.
“I’m not so sure what the thought process is there,” Cunningham told reporters Tuesday, noting that players would likely be more jazzed about playing in Florida than the Midwest.
“At the end of the day, you don’t want to expand our league too fast. We don’t want teams to totally dominate and some that aren’t,” she added. “It’s a hard situation, but, man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].”
Sophie Cunningham Draws Fire from Detroit and the Lions
As you can imagine, not everybody was thrilled with Sophie Cunningham’s take on the cities that were awarded expansion clubs—especially the city of Detroit.
Detroit’s official X account fired back at Sophie, suggesting that the Motor City would draw well.
“The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock), we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons, and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals,” they wrote.
“Additionally, more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft,” the city added. “Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.”
I mean, fair enough. Detroit is a great sports town when its teams are rolling. But yeah, Clark could draw over 22,000 people by inviting them to an arena to watch her sing karaoke right now.
One of those rolling teams, the Detroit Lions, also responded to Cunningham’s comments.
“Team not even here yet and we already got haters,” they quipped.
Team not even here yet and we already got haters 🤣 #DetroitVsEverybody
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) July 1, 2025
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Cleveland Also Chimes In
Sophie Cunningham’s remarks sparked online debate, with some defending her honesty while others, including Detroit native Jemele Hill, criticized her for dismissing cities with rich sports traditions.
“Sis, you play in Indiana,” Hill wrote on X. “No disrespect.”
Detroit’s overall crime rate in 2025 was approximately 66.09 per 1,000 residents, significantly higher than the national average, with a violent crime rate 488% higher than the national average.
Sis, you play in Indiana. No disrespect. https://t.co/xg8PtrKtSJ
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 1, 2025
The city of Cleveland also responded to Sophie Cunningham’s criticism.
“Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!” the city’s official X account stated, adding a video of Clark praising them for hosting the Final Four.
“We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team,” they continued, “and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!”
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