The chairman of the NHL‘s Nashville Predators and his wife want to bring the WNBA to Music City and have teamed up with a star-filled investor group including Candace Parker, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and entertainers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
The group led by Bill Haslam, a former Tennessee governor, submitted its bid to the WNBA on Thursday for a franchise that would start playing in 2028. The team also would be named the Tennessee Summitt in honor of the late Pat Summitt. Haslam said they see how women’s professional sports is emerging worldwide.
“We believe a WNBA team, based in Nashville, could serve as a beacon for girls and women, young and old, across Tennessee, while also creating more opportunities for sports fans as our community continues to grow,” Haslam said.
The Nashville bid features a plan to build a practice facility for the WNBA team that also would be used for youth basketball.
“Tennessee is the DNA of everything women’s basketball stands for,” Parker said in a statement. “I’m excited to be a part of the group working to bring a WNBA team to the state and honor Coach Summitt’s legacy.”
Parker is a three-time WNBA champion and helped Summitt win two of her eight national championships at the University of Tennessee. Summitt retired as the winningest Division I coach and died in 2016, four years after her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.
A Tennessee native, Summitt coached the Lady Vols for 38 years and had a career record of 1,098-208 in 38 seasons, plus 18 NCAA Final Four appearances. Her son, Tyler, noted his mother was a huge advocate for women’s sports and women in leadership.
“I know she would be proud and honored to be included in the expansion of women’s professional basketball into Tennessee,” Summitt said.
The team would play at Bridgestone Arena, home to the NHL’s Predators. Haslam started his purchase of a majority share of the Predators in 2022.
The WNBA is adding three expansion teams in the next two seasons, with Golden State, Portland and Toronto joining to boost the league’s franchises to 15. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said the WNBA would like to add a 16th team by the 2028 season. Cleveland announced its bid to bring a WNBA franchise back to Ohio last November.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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