Will the Shock name return to Detroit with the WNBA?
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The naming process for Detroit's new WNBA team is just getting started and "multiple options" will be considered, the ownership group tells Axios.
Why it matters: The city's sports fans are pumped about the WNBA's return, and the mystery surrounding the team's name is part of the fun.
Between the lines: Pistons owner Tom Gores leads a group that paid a $250 million expansion fee to join the WNBA, and the team won't start playing until 2029.
- So they have plenty of time to decide.
Flashback: That wasn't the case nearly 30 years ago when former Pistons owner Bill Davidson accepted former NBA commissioner David Stern's standing offer to join the WNBA with no expansion fee.
Inside the room: The Shock name was conceived by executives who worked for Davidson.
- Each brought a couple of names to a meeting where an informal consensus was reached, former Palace Sports and Entertainment president Tom Wilson tells Axios. Wilson was intimately involved in launching the Shock as Davidson's No. 2.
What they're saying: The group met for about two hours. They wanted a simple name that was automotive.
- "I don't remember going to fans or anything like that because we didn't have any fans (yet). This is one of those things where you wanted to launch," Wilson said.
The latest: Gores hasn't made any decisions yet involving a name.
- "Nothing has been determined at this point regarding the name of the new WNBA team in Detroit, and we plan to explore and consider multiple options," Pistons spokesperson Kevin Grigg tells Axios.
Zoom out: Branding of the Golden State Valkyries, now in their first WNBA season, began after the franchise was announced in 2023 and involved staff from the Warriors marketing department, the Cartwright agency and a San Francisco Chronicle survey, per ESPN.
- Philadelphia and Cleveland are also finding names for their WNBA expansion teams.
- Philly fans have ideas for ownership to consider. In Cleveland, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's son Grant, the team's vice president of basketball and business operations, is driving the WNBA naming process.
Friction point: Detroit native Ryan Reed, who's trying to start his own women's basketball league, applied for in 2023 and has secured trademark rights to the "Detroit Shock" name, the Free Press reported.
- Reed told the Freep he's had "cordial conversations" with the WNBA about relinquishing the name.
💭 Joe's thought bubble: The Shock name was cool. But that team played in Auburn Hills, and the new team deserves a fresh start with a fun, new name.
The bottom line: Naming a basketball team is more complicated when you pay $250 million for it.