Michigan Loses WNBA Team Bid, Detroit Shock Return Halted

Just a couple of weeks ago, there was rumblings that the WNBA could make a return to the Mitten state which had many of us reminiscing about their first go around. Michigan was blessed with an extremely successful WNBA franchise that would win multiple Eastern Conference and WNBA championships before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Tons of sports fans in the state were excited at the fact that their beloved Detroit Shock could return. The news began to spread quickly and that's when we all found out that Tom and Holly Gores, Sheila Ford Hamp, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, former Pistons Grant Hill and Chris Webber, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra were a part of the investment group.

In the latest report, there has been news that Michigan may be on the outside looking in for WNBA expansion at the moment. Their bid was in competition with bids from several other cities across the United States and as of right now, Michigan isn't the favorite to win. An article on the Sports Business Journal's website says that Cleveland has a 90% change to win the next WNBA expansion bid.

One of the main components of bringing a WNBA franchise to your city or state is having the money to support it and right now, Cleveland has a bid worth approximately $250 million which is the highest the WNBA has ever seen. Although this is the case, there is a small sliver of hope for WNBA fans in Michigan.

The WNBA has continued to go in popularity over the last couple of years and they have discussed possibly handing out one or two more expansion bids for the 2028 season. This would mean that the Detroit Shock are still very well in the hunt to return to Michigan and the WNBA.