CNBC’s Alex Sherman joins 'Money Movers' to discuss the WNBA's expansion.

The WNBA has announced plans to expand by adding three new teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia over the next five years. Detroit and Cleveland are returning cities, while Philadelphia will host a WNBA team for the first time. Each new franchise has paid a $250 million expansion fee, the largest in league history. 

League officials attribute the expansion to a period of transformation and growth, including a significant increase in revenue and heightened interest driven by rising stars such as Caitlin Clark. The commissioner expressed confidence in the league's younger talent and the potential for sustained growth in attendance and TV ratings, particularly in the newly added cities.

WNBA expands, adds three new teams

Turning to the world of sports, the WNBA announcing will be adding three new teams in the next five years. Alex Sherman has all the details. Morning, Alex. Good morning. Yeah, an historic day for the WNBA. As you mentioned, three new teams being added in an announcement this morning. Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. Those are the three. Detroit and Cleveland have actually already had WNBA teams, so they will be returning for Philadelphia. It's brand new. I want to see if she's still behind me here. No, she's not. But I just spoke with Kathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner. She's right to my right here. And I asked her, look, sort of a northern feel to all these three teams. Why did you choose these three teams other than the other eight teams that bid, which included some hot cities like Nashville, Austin, Miami? Take a listen to what she told me. The league is in such a different place. The transformation we've been affecting just over the last five years and some of these haven't been here for 25 years. So next year going into our 30th year, it's a different time for the W. These are different cities, too. They've transformed, as you've heard them talk about, particularly Detroit. So, yeah, look, there's sort of a dual track thing going here where the WNBA is resurgent and maybe some of these cities like Cleveland and Detroit are also resurgent. At the same time, each franchise paid $250 million as an expansion fee. That is by far the largest expansion fee ever paid in WNBA history. Well, and just remind us, Alex, of how of what the growth looks like right now for WNBA. How much is tied to Caitlin Clark and how much is sort of lasting here in terms of changes and revenues and TV deals, everything else? So that is the $64,000 question. So we know that WNBA revenue will be up six fold from its most recent deal that it signed earlier this year in conjunction with the NBA. So that does give ownership groups a little bit of faith that the league itself is on the rise beyond just the Caitlin Clark effect. But it is still very much a question if Caitlin Clark is sort of a one off for the league and there's been a jump in attendance and TV ratings and perhaps that will die down or if this is a lasting effect. That is something else that I asked WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert, and she told me she's extremely confident in the younger talent in this league. In fact, she said some of the players she's seeing in the U-17 league could jump in and play in the WNBA today. So the hope and the thought is that Caitlin Clark has basically ushered in a new generation of higher talent level players that will then join these three new expansion teams and the overall quality of the league will just continue to go up and up as years to come. Alex, do you do valuations of these teams? What are the top team's franchises worth? You're leading right into a CNBC Sports special. So CNBC Sport has not actually done WNBA valuations yet, but they are to come. But as you might imagine, the largest market franchises, the New York Liberty, Los Angeles, these tend to be the teams that currently have the highest valuations based on other metrics, which is no surprise, certainly with the amount of money that's coming into these franchises. But look, one thing I would say is that if you take a look at Cleveland, at Detroit, when Detroit had its team earlier, those were some of the highest rated and highest attended games of all teams. Then the financial crisis hit and they bailed on the team. So the hope is that there is a fan base in each of these cities immediately that will lead to high TV ratings and high attendance levels.

Russia pummeled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, injuring at least 23 people and damaging buildings across the capital only hours after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin, officials said.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russia hits Kyiv with largest drone attack after Trump-Putin call

U.S. President Donald Trump marked the passage of the new spending bill, which includes changes to food assistance, student loan programs, and clean energy credits. Robert Costa joins "CBS Mornings" to break down what's in the legislation.

Washington

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Jerusalem

More than 80 people killed in Gaza in one day

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Global Tariffs

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Indonesian rescuers on Thursday (July 3) temporarily halted a search for 30 people still missing after a ferry carrying 65 people sank near the island of Bali with the loss of six lives, the national search and rescue agency said.

Gilimanuk

Indonesia suspends search for 30 missing after ferry sinks near Bali

After marathon debate sessions in the Senate and House, President Donald Trump’s budget bill passed in the House. Republicans secured the biggest win of Trump’s presidency.

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Trump speaks with Putin, plans call with Zelenskyy

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Tecoluca

Kilmar Abrego Garcia claims he was tortured in El Salvadoran prison

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Manhattan

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Madrid

Liverpool soccer player dies in car crash 10 days after wedding

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Tehran

Iran Strikes

Iran nuclear program degraded by up to two years: Pentagon

Days before his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama announced the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit he founded, will have the sole authority to recognize his future reincarnation, but China insists it will choose the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Lhasa

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Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill nears approval

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New York

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Boise

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Madison

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Everglades

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Moscow

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Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, adding to mounting pressure on a government fighting for survival on multiple fronts.

Bangkok

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