Cleveland's new WNBA team rejects 'Lady Cavaliers' identity in unveiling of name, color scheme

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Sirens: mythical creatures who perched along rocky shores, using their beautiful, hypnotic songs to lure unsuspecting sailors to their deaths.

Also, Cleveland’s new WNBA team.

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The expansion franchise unveiled its name, logo and colors Tuesday, officially introducing the Cleveland Sirens ahead of the team’s inaugural season in 2028.

Allison Howard, president of business operations of the Cleveland Sirens, helps reveal the new WNBA team's name and logo at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 4, 2026. (Lauren Leigh Bacho/NBAE via Getty Images)

The nautical branding is a nod to Lake Erie, but the organization had another objective in mind: making sure the new team did not look like a women’s version of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"We don't want to be the Lady Cavaliers, and we don't want to be wine and gold," Sirens President of Business Operations Allison Howard said. "We really need to be very separate, very distinctive."

The Sirens and Cavaliers are both owned by Dan Gilbert’s Rock Entertainment Group and will share Rocket Arena. But Cleveland’s WNBA leadership made clear from the beginning that the two franchises should not share an identity.

Instead of borrowing the Cavaliers’ color scheme, the Sirens will use two shades of blue — appropriately named "Sirens Blue" and "Erie Blue." Their logo features the mythical creature beneath the team name, while the "S" in the wordmark contains a hidden "CLE."

"We love our Cavaliers, and they are such