Detroit wants to bring the WNBA back to the Motor City, backed by an investor group led by the owners of the NBA‘s Pistons and NFL‘s Lions.
Pistons owner Tom Gores submitted the bid Thursday and it was announced Friday. The group includes Sheila Ford Hamp and her husband, the principal owners of the Lions; the chief executive officer and chair of General Motors Company; Hall of Famer and former NBA rookie of the Year Grant Hill; Lions quarterback Jared Goff and his wife; and others.
“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,” Gores said in a statement. “No city is more prepared to embrace the team as a community asset that drives unity and common ground.”
The Detroit Shock were one of the WNBA’s first expansion teams, winning three titles between 1998 and 2009. The Shock ranked in the top five for attendance for five straight seasons and led the league in that category for three consecutive seasons. Detroit set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals.
The new team would play at Little Caesars Arena.
“Detroit is a sports town that loves its teams deeply and consistently shows up with unwavering passion,” Gores said. “At…
