It appears the wait for Detroit to get a WNBA team back in town will continue.
Last month, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and his wife, Holly, submitted a formal bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to Detroit. Gores was joined by a group of big-name investors, including Jared Goff, Grant Hill and Chris Webber, but the group has reportedly lost out in its effort to bring the WNBA’s 16th team to Detroit.
According to a report in the Sports Business Journal on Sunday, Cleveland is expected to be tabbed as the location for the league’s next expansion team.
However, there may be some good news to go along with the letdown. The Sports Business Journal also reported that after receiving a ton of interest in an expansion franchise, including at least 10 bids from NBA owners, the league is reconsidering its original plan to add just one team and may add two more in addition to Cleveland, if they’re in fact selected.
At the top of the list of cities being considered? Detroit, along with Philadelphia, Houston, Nashville and Miami.
If Gores and Co. can secure either the 17th or 18th franchise in the WNBA, their reported plan is to revive the legacy of the Detroit Shock, the former franchise that was one of the league’s first expansion teams and was in Detroit from 1998-2009. When news of the bid first came out in January, CNBC reported the group filed for a trademark for the previous “Detroit Shock” name.
“This is an exciting opportunity to welcome the WNBA back to Detroit and bring additional investment and economic activity into the city,” Gores said in a release from the Pistons on Jan. 31. “For the WNBA, this is home, and our bid represents an unprecedented opportunity for the league to come full circle and effect a long-hoped-for Detroit homecoming. No city is more prepared to embrace the team as a community asset that drives unity and common ground.”
THE PLAN: Tom Gores, superteam of investors submit bid to bring WNBA team back to Detroit
The Detroit Shock were highly successful when they were in town, winning three titles between their creation in 1998 and 2009, when the team moved to Tulsa before the 2010 season.
A few years later, the franchise moved again and is now known as the Dallas Wings.
If Detroit were picked down the line, the plan would be for the team to play its games at Little Caesars Arena and to eventually get its own practice facility, separate from the one the Pistons use.
Of course, the WNBA has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years, driven in large part by the Caitlin Clark phenomenon.
In her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, the former Iowa standout won Rookie of the Year and games she played in consistently set viewership records for the league.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Gores, Detroit reportedly lose out on WNBA expansion bid
