Detroit responds to Sophie Cunningham questioning WNBA expansion's return to city
"I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit," Cunningham said on Tuesday, ahead of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup final, in response to the WNBA's expansion news on Monday.
"There's more opportunities, so I get that aspect, but I also think you want to listen to your players too. Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans?" Cunningham said. "I'm not so sure what the though process is there."
Cunningham offered up a number of other cities, saying, "Miami would've been a great one, Nashville is an amazing city, Kansas City— amazing opportunity with a huge arena downtown that no one's using."
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Cunningham's comments reached the city of Detroit, which is home to many professional sports teams, including the NFL's Detroit Lions, NBA's Detroit Pistons, MLB's Detroit Tigers and NHL's Detroit Red Wings. Detroit was formerly home to the three-time WNBA champion Detroit Shock from 1998 to 2009, but the franchise relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma from 2010 to 2015 and eventually rebranded into the Dallas Wings in 2016.
"The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals," the official X account for the City of Detroit tweeted in response to Cunningham.
The city's social media account reminded that "Detroit is a sports town," noting that "more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft," an attendance that broke the previous 2019 record.
"We're sure we'll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning," the City of Detroit added.
On Monday, the WNBA announced it will establish new franchises in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030), joining previously announced cities Portland and Toronto, which will begin play next season.
'The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,' WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. 'This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league's extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women's professional basketball."
The expansion plan now goes to the WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors for final approval.
Contributing: Stever Gardner
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