Why Detroit is primed for the WNBA’s return, according to former league president

DETROIT – She played professional basketball, served as the former WNBA president, and now, Donna Orender is discussing the potential return of the WNBA to Detroit.

“I think it will be incredibly successful here. I mean, basketball is made — especially women’s basketball — was made for Detroit,” Orender said.

Recognized as one of the top ten most powerful women in sports and one of Newsweek’s 100 most influential people in the business of sports, Orender served six years as the president of the WNBA and spent 17 years at the PGA Tour.

Bringing the WNBA back to Detroit

Orender thinks bringing the WNBA back to the Motor City is important. The Detroit Shock was one of the league’s first expansion franchises, playing at the Palace of Auburn Hills for 10 years and winning three titles before relocating to Oklahoma. Since then, there have been several attempts to bring the league back to Detroit, with pushes from Pistons owner Tom Gores, GM CEO Mary Barra, Eminem and others.

“The WNBA had a really incredible, successful run in Detroit. I remember being at the Palace; it was packed,” Orender said. “They won championships in 2006 and 2008, and people showed up. Detroit is a basketball-loving city, and it was really sad when it went away.”

Orender said that WNBA would still be successful in Detroit, citing the city’s strong leadership and the community’s support for basketball.

“The best thing you can always do is sell out, right? Pre-sell 10,000 season tickets,” Orender said.

While Orender can fill you in on her past as an athlete, the former head of the WNBA loves spending her energy and time discussing the future of female athletes.

“All the data is showing that fans, 75% of sports fans today, male and female, are interested in the new leagues that are coming up,” Orender said. “That really was an impetus for us to create the Upshot League.”

New opportunities for female athletes

The Upshot League, a professional women’s developmental basketball league, will start in four cities: Jacksonville, Savannah, Greensboro, and Charlotte.

However, Orender believes the league will expand to 16 teams in the future.

“We have four teams that will take the court in a year. The investment has been encouraging; the market is telling us this is what we want. The mayors of the cities we’re going to are telling us this is what we want, and companies and people are already buying tickets,” Orender said. “Let’s give everyone a shot; let’s give them a place to play.”

Of course, Detroit is on her radar as a prime location for growth and opportunity. Orender is committed to providing opportunities for female athletes, as she understands the challenges they face firsthand.

“We want to invest in college basketball, we want to invest in high school basketball. We want to let every young athlete know we see them and we support them,” she said. “I guess maybe that comes from being the kid that didn’t have that, right? I didn’t have sneakers made for me. I had to buy boys’ shorts, and you know what? I kind of loved it.”

Raising young female athletes

Orender emphasized that parents need to be aware of the biases they might have, particularly when concerning gender and letting girls know they are seen, heard and supported.

 “I think all of us still need to be conscious and aware of what’s been poured into us — the language, a lot of the bias, a lot of the expectations that we take on and pass along without even knowing it,” Orender said. “I think we guard our girls more carefully, for some good reasons, the world’s dangerous, but on the other hand, we want to set them off. We want to say, fly into your courage, right? It’s OK to make mistakes.”

You can watch the full interview with Donna Orender at 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, on Local 4+ and ClickOnDetroit.com.