ESPN is reporting that the WNBA's Detroit Shock are moving to Tulsa. The Shock have won WNBA titles in '03, '06, and '08, and recently lost to the Indiana Fever last month in playoffs. They're a good, solid team for certain. In the '03 playoffs they drew crowds in excess of 22,000, but attendance has fallen since then as the successful Detroit Shock have had trouble competing with much less successful teams in Michigan (Wolverines, Spartans, Lions, Tigers, etc).
The investment group, Tulsa Pro Hoops LLC (led by OKC businessmen David Box and Bill Cameron) are behind the move and are aiming to have a team in Tulsa by next year. They have lined up former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson to coach a prospective WNBA team in Tulsa. Richardson was 1994 Naismith Coach of the Year, has coached Arkansas to 3 Final Fours, and won the 1990 championship with the Razorbacks.
Tulsa would be the 2nd smallest WNBA city, after Uncasville, CT.
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I guess it's better than nothing, but Tulsa gets to be number two to OKC in something else ... a real NBA team. The WNBA is Ike Amtrack - it could never survive on it's own merits, and needs subsidies from elsewhere to make it. In this case it is the NBA that pays for much of the expenses.
I don't know about all that, but I'll agree that the WNBA is a questionable product and it might not be the best fit for Tulsa.
That said, it is still great that Tulsa has found a decent team to play in the BOK Center and it's still progress for Tulsa's sports scene, even if it is the WNBA.
To me it's a better step up than the AFL moving its HQ to Tulsa..that's a big dud to me. WNBA, a little bit of a step up. Granted I'd rather see Tulsa get an NHL or MLS team, but we'll see if that happens in the future.
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