The timing is ripe for an expansion, as Iowa hasn’t had a professional basketball franchise in almost 75 years.
Iowa’s first and only major league professional sports franchise was the Waterloo Hawks. The squad had a 19-43 record and placed fifth in the Western Division during the 1949–50 NBA season. After that season, the Hawks were one of six teams cut.
The WNBA offers the best chance for Iowa to get a professional basketball team. There are presently 12 teams in the league, and in the upcoming two years, Golden State and Toronto will become the newest additions.
Iowa sports fans have united behind its two Division I athletic teams, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones, since the Waterloo Hawks ended play in 1950. For many years, both universities have attracted the best high school players, particularly in basketball.
For the past four years, Caitlin Clark has rewarded Hawkeye fans by donning the black and gold. She was a five-star prospect from West Des Moines when she came to Iowa City, and she went on to become possibly the best women’s collegiate basketball player of all time.
Since joining the Indiana Fever, Clark’s fan following has helped to drive record-breaking ticket sales.
Shortly after choosing the star point guard first overall in the 2024 WNBA draft, the Fever sold out their season tickets for the first time in team history. Season ticket holders for the Fever indicated that the average trip from Indianapolis was 314 miles, and the distance between Iowa City and Gainbridge Fieldhouse was approximately 365 miles.
As of August 20, Indiana leads the conference by a significant margin in both average and total attendance.
Iowa supporters have previously assisted in shattering women’s basketball records.
The Hawkeyes sold out all but two of their home games during Clark’s final season last year, and they set NCAA viewership records during Iowa’s final three tournament games, including the national championship game against South Carolina. The Hawkeyes also hosted 55,646 fans inside Kinnick Stadium as part of Crossover at Kinnick.
Women’s basketball is a huge passion for Iowans, as Clark noted in March 2023, and the Hawkeyes are their “pro sports team.” She thinks Iowa would be a great place for a WNBA franchise because of how popular the sport is.
Megan Gustafson, a centre for the Las Vegas Aces and a former Hawkeye, recently argued in favour of possible WNBA expansion for Iowa. Gustafson talked about the possibility of hosting an exhibition game between the Fever and Aces at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in an interview with KGAN sports reporter Owen Siebring. The game would include herself, Clark, and former Iowa guard Kate Martin, who currently plays with Gustafson on the Aces.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert now expresses her “very confident” belief that the league will grow to 16 teams by 2028. Potential expansion franchises could be located in South Florida, Denver, Philadelphia, Portland, Nashville, and Nashville.
It seems sense that the league will now probably spread to more developed markets with sizable fan bases. However, there is every reason to think that a small market state may soon be considered for a WNBA franchise if an expansion club were to land someplace in Iowa, a state known for its strong women’s basketball reputation and having little to no competition.