Pistons owner Tom Gores, star-studded investor team submits bid to bring WNBA franchise back to Detroit

(CBS DETROIT) — Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores is looking to bring a WNBA franchise back to the Motor City. 

Gores submitted a formal bid on behalf of an expansive ownership group on Thursday. 

“This is an exciting opportunity to welcome the WNBA back to Detroit and bring additional investment and economic activity into the city,” said Gores in a statement. “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 star-studded investor group includes Detroit Lions principal owner Sheila Ford and her husband, Steve, who is chairman of the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation and New Economy Initiative; General Motors CEO Mary Barra; former Pistons great and Hall of Famer Grant Hill; Lions quarterback Jared Goff and his wife, Christen; Detroit native and Hall of Famer Chris Webber; and Arn and Nancy Tellem. 

In 1996, Detroit was one of the first cities awarded an expansion franchise. The Detroit Shock called The Palace of Auburn Hills home from 1998 to 2009. 

The Shock won WNBA championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008 and were led by Hall of Famers like Swin Cash and Katie Smith and coached by former Pistons “Bad Boys” Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn. 

The franchise ranked in the top five for attendance for five consecutive seasons and topped the league’s attendance mark in three straight seasons, including establishing a single-game record of 22,076 fans for Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals. 

The Shock left for Tulsa after the conclusion of the 2009 season. The franchise lasted six seasons in Tulsa before becoming the Dallas Wings in 2016. 

Citing Detroit’s past support for women’s basketball and the WNBA, Gores said the city is ready for a new franchise. 

“Detroit is a sports town that loves its teams deeply and consistently shows up with unwavering passion,” Gpres said in a release. “At a critical moment in the growth and development of the WNBA, it supported the hometown team more than any other franchise in the league. We’re here to rekindle that legacy.” 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he’s committed to working with the new franchise’s ownership group on developing a new campus in the city.

“Having a WNBA franchise in Detroit not only would add to the growing list of professional sports teams playing in the city, it also would bring a state-of-the-art practice facility and support the creation of a youth sports academy for Detroit’s young people and their families,” Duggan said in a statement.

The new team would play its game at Little Caesars Arena, joining the Red Wings and Pistons at the downtown Detroit venue, which opened in 2017. 

Plans call for the construction of a dedicated practice facility and team headquarters, as well as a sports center that would be open to the public and allow for the creation of a youth development academy.

“My vision is to continue developing community assets that create change and impact for families across this city,” said Gores. “Together, we will create a new model for how professional sports can drive youth development, health care and community impact not only on the court and in the arena, but also off the court and throughout the Detroit community.” 

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