New professional women's basketball league coming to Charlotte
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Although the team will play in Charlotte, it'll be headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, where Zawyer Sports & Entertainment is based. Photo: Ashley Mahoney/Axios
Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, the Charlotte Checkers majority ownership group, will bring professional women's basketball to Charlotte in 2026.
Why it matters: Women's pro sports have seen a surge in popularity in recent years, and new teams and leagues have been popping up, including in Charlotte.
Driving the news: Charlotte's new professional women's basketball team will play in the UpShot League and call Bojangles Coliseum home.
- The league will be headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, where Zawyer Sports & Entertainment is based.
- League organizers describe it as a developmental league.
What to expect: UpShot will have four teams to start — in Charlotte, Greensboro, Jacksonville and Savannah — and will tip off in May 2026.
- Teams will play 40 regular season games (20 at home and 20 on the road). Season tickets will start at $44 per seat.
- Zawyer Sports is looking for fan input on the team name with a naming contest on the team's website: TheUpShotCharlotte.com.
- Teams will wear vintage jerseys during the inaugural season as a nod to the history of women's basketball.
Between the lines: Donna Orender, a former professional basketball player and WNBA president, will be UPSHOT's commissioner.
- "There is an immense amount of talent looking for a place to play, we can now provide that place," Orender said in a statement.
UPSHOT investors include:
- Cheryl Miller, Women's Basketball Hall of Famer
- Ann Meyers Drysdale, former women's basketball player and WNBA/NBA executive
- Seniesa Estrada, former WBA boxing champion
- Patric Young, former University of Florida basketball player & PY4 Foundation
- Annie Q., American actress
- Chris Robert, American film producer
What they're saying: "We are beyond thrilled to be able to launch this league and provide another quality platform for women to continue being a part of the sport they love, whether it is a player on the court or a staff member in the front office," Zawyer Sports CEO Andy Kaufmann said in a statement.
- Zawyer Sports also owns the nearby minor league baseball team, the Gastonia Ghost Peppers, and several other teams in the Southeast.
Zoom in: Charlotte has had professional women's basketball before. The Charlotte Sting, which was owned by the same group as the Bobcats (today's Hornets) played in the WNBA and folded in the early 2000s.
- But the basketball landscape has evolved over the last two decades. Charlotte is investing in the women's collegiate game and Unrivaled, a new women's 3x3 basketball league, recently launched.
Editor's note: This is a developing story.