Pistons exec "optimistic" on Detroit WNBA
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WNBA Detroit panelists Swin Cash-Canal and Arn Tellem. Photos: Courtesy of Detroit Regional Chamber via Flickr
As Detroit competes to land a new WNBA team, Pistons leadership says a major strength is its investor group, which left the league blown away.
Why it matters: Landing the new team is being pitched as a needed addition to the city's growing sports-based economy as women's sports surge in popularity. It would also include significant investment in youth sports.
The latest: "We've been hearing very positive things," Pistons Sports and Entertainment vice chairman Arn Tellem said in a Wednesday panel on the WNBA bid effort at the Mackinac Policy Conference. Detroit's bid is led by Pistons owner Tom Gores, along with Tellem.
- "I wouldn't be sitting here today if I wasn't optimistic … hopefully we'll hear good news soon," Tellem added.
- The panel also included Grant Hill, managing director of USA Basketball, and Swin Cash-Canal, a former WNBA player.
Between the lines: The WNBA rolled out its intentions to expand over the last couple of years, and efforts started "in earnest" in Detroit, Tellem said. In forming the investor group, he adds, "I wanted to send a statement to the WNBA about the power of Detroit …"
- His first call was to Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp. Then he reached out to Hill, a former NBA player who was drafted by the Pistons and whom Tellem knew "would have a great impact" on the bid.
- Others in the group include GM CEO Mary Barra; Suzanne Shank, the CEO of investment banking firm Siebert Williams Shank & Co.; former Piston Chris Webber; and Lions quarterback Jared Goff. See the full list here.
- Sportico then reported in March that Eminem joined the bid.
Catch up quick: The bid is tied to a prime piece of riverfront land near Belle Isle.
- Gores and the group want to turn the former Uniroyal site into a WNBA practice facility and youth recreation site to reduce barriers to Detroit kids accessing sports.
What they're saying: "The (Detroit WNBA) vision isn't just about investing in women, which is good business … but that community and youth piece is so big for Detroit, and it's going to be the model for anyone else that's coming into the W," Cash-Canal said during the panel.
Flashback: Gores submitted a bid in January to bring the WNBA back to the city. The Detroit Shock, the city's beloved former team, moved to Tulsa for the 2010 season.
- Tellem said Wednesday that he and Gores first discussed the possibility of bringing the WNBA back more than a decade ago.
The intrigue: Tellem, asked about what the team's name could potentially be if it wasn't the Shock, said he was interested in doing something related to the city's Motown heritage, like referencing the Supremes, but that there may be legal issues.
- Hill suggested the Detroit Spirit.