Women’s basketball fans in the Motor City got the news Monday that they’ve waited nearly two decades to hear – the WNBA is coming back to Detroit. The summer pro league announced expansion franchises will be coming to Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia in the years ahead. Assuming the WNBA and NBA boards approve the decision, then Detroit will begin play in 2029.
This will mark the second time the league has had a team in Detroit. The Detroit Shock started playing in 1998 and stayed through 2009 before they moved to Tulsa, Okla. They won titles in 2003, 2006 and 2008 with former Pistons star Bill Laimbeer as the Shock’s coach.
One of the biggest questions arising from the news is what the team will be called. BetMichigan has set odds on potential names. A reminder, these odds are for infotainment purposes only, you will not find them at any licensed Michigan sportsbook, such as Fanatics.
Team Name | Source/Label | Odds | Implied Probability (%) |
Detroit Shock | Reported (Legacy revival considered; trademark filed) | +250 | 28.6% |
Detroit Soul | AI-Generated (Motown & city spirit) | +400 | 20.0% |
Detroit Riveters | Speculative (Rosie the Riveter/WWII factory heritage) | +450 | 18.2% |
Detroit Hustle | Speculative (City's blue-collar grit) | +500 | 16.7% |
Field (Any Other Name) | All other possibilities | +600 | 14.3% |
We’ve tabbed the Shock as the favorite because of the success of that franchise while it played in Detroit. It also helps that the league earlier this year submitted a trademark application for the phrase Detroit Shock.
As the 2025 WNBA season plays on, see the title favorites at Michigan betting apps.
It seems unheard of that a team would leave a city just a year after winning a title there. However, that’s exactly what happened to the Shock, and the move was due to some issues out of the team’s control. The Shock were owned by Bill Davidson, who also owned the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. He died in March 2009, and his wife sold the teams separately. A group from Oklahoma bought the Shock and moved them to Tulsa.
The move also came on the heels of the Great Recession, which greatly impacted Detroit. The unemployment skyrocketed and the city’s gross domestic product plummeted. That was due in large part to how automakers Ford, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler – all of which are headquartered in the Detroit area – fared during and immediately after the worst recession in decades. Two of the companies filed for bankruptcy, and the city went bankrupt itself in 2013.
Detroit has improved in the years since, and while Detroit has maintained its status of a “Big Four” sports city, the return of the WNBA is a sign of that.
It also helped Detroit’s application that the investment group backing the team is both diverse and deeply rooted in the city. Pistons owner Tom Gores is the principal backer, but others involved include rap legend and Detroit native Eminem; Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff; General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra; former Detroit Pistons star and Hall of Famer Grant Hill; and Detroit native, Michigan basketball icon and Hall of Famer Chris Webber.
USA Today photo by Kimberly P. Mitchell.
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