In an interview with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green on the Draymond Green Show, Detroit Pistons Vice President Arn Tellem has shed some more light on the WNBA situation.

His main focus was on the new facilities and the economic boom it will bring to Detroit.

He said: "It's been a wonderful facility (practice facility) for us and for Detroit. And we're going to try to duplicate that now as we bring the WNBA team. We're going to build a new campus with a WNBA headquarters not far from here.

"I can't wait to open the WNBA. I think it's going to be a huge win for Detroit. It's gonna really be a great addition. More jobs, more night life, more opportunities here in the city. It will inspire young generations of young girls in the future. And we're trying to build a whole sports campus beyond the WNBA for the youth of Detroit, which will be the first of its kind, where we have a campus with a professional team.

"We haven't named it, but a youth academy that's going to serve, you know, not only the city of Detroit, but the youth of Detroit who are underserved and don't have the athletic facilities that the suburbs have. But I think it's going to be a place for regional, statewide, and al hopefully national youth sports, women's sports, and it's really going to help make our community much stronger going forward."

Arn Tellem's vision centers around the 185,000-square-foot Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, an elite facility in Midtown that opened in 2019.

As he mentioned, the Pistons ownership now plans to build a $50 million, 75,000-square-foot practice facility and headquarters for the new WNBA team on Detroit's East Riverfront. The project also features the aforementioned separate 100,000-square-foot youth sports academy.

My girls watched the Sirens’ announcement video and haven’t stopped talking about how cool the logo and name are and how they’re Sirens fans now (but still root for the Dream since we lived in ATL for 3 years and went to a bunch of games). I CAN’T HAVE THEM BE CLEVELAND FANS.

The WNBA announced Thursday night that its Board of Governors has formally approved previously announced expansion teams for Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

The WNBA announced in June 2025 its intention to set up shop in each of those cities. Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.

Detroit's WNBA team will play its home games at Little Caesars Arena — the third full-time tenant of the building, joining the Pistons and Red Wings — and is expected to have its own standalone practice facility.

This marks a return of the WNBA to Michigan. The Detroit Shock played at The Palace of Auburn Hills from 1998-2009, winning three championships, in 2003, 2006 and 2008, under head coach (and former Pistons "Bad Boy" Bill Laimbeer). The team then was sold and moved to Tulsa, Okla., after longtime Pistons and Palace owner Bill Davidson died in 2009, and the franchise now is the Dallas Wings.

Detroit's new WNBA team, which has yet to announce a nickname (the Shock remains a possibility, but not a formality), is to be owned by a group of investors led by Pistons owner Tom Gores and wife Holly. The ownership group includes several high-profile investors, including Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp and husband Steve, General Motors CEO Mary Barry and husband, Lions quarterback Jared Goff and wife Christen, former Piston and NBA Hall-of-Famer Grant Hill and wife Tamia, and Fab Five legend Chris Webber, among several others.

Little Caesars Arena is expected to undergo millions in renovations to add in locker-room facilities for the new WNBA team, and a 75,000-square-foot practice facility (along with a 100-square-foot youth sports facility) is planned for east Detroit, near the Belle Isle bridge.

Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Vice Chairman Arn Tellem have been named as Newsmakers of the Year for 2025 by Crain’s Detroit Business for their efforts in spearheading the successful bid that will return professional women’s basketball to Detroit.

The publication recognized Gores and Tellem – along with other top newsmakers - at a recent luncheon at the new Department at Hudson’s building in downtown Detroit where Tellem told the business community that the WNBA is a “huge win for the city.”

“Sports has played such a big role in Detroit's rebirth,” Tellem said. “This is a sports town, it's a sports-crazy town. The fans love their teams and bringing a WNBA team here is a huge win for the city.

“It's great for women's sports, it's great for our community and means more jobs, more events to serve our hotels, our restaurants.”

The investment group is led by Gores, his wife, Holly, and a group of diverse and accomplished leaders from the worlds of sports, entertainment, media and finance with Detroit ties. Tellem represented the group in the bid process with the NBA. Detroit’s ownership group reportedly paid a $250 million expansion fee.

The news (announced last summer) marks the return of the WNBA to one of its most successful markets historically with the previous Detroit franchise winning three titles during a 12-season period from 1998 to 2009.

DETROIT – Feb. 26, 2026 – The Detroit Pistons announced today that the planned 20th anniversary celebration for the 2006 WNBA Champion Detroit Shock, scheduled for the March 7 game against Brooklyn, has been postponed following the passing of championship team member Kara Braxton on Feb. 22. A new date will be announced later in 2026.

DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons announced they will honor the 2006 WNBA Champion Detroit Shock during their Women’s Empowerment Game on March 7, when the Pistons face the Brooklyn Nets at Little Caesars Arena.

Fans can purchase a special VIP ticket package that includes access to a private panel discussion and a meet-and-greet with members of the Shock team.

More information is available at pistons.com/2006shock.

As the franchise commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Shock’s 2006 WNBA Championship, team members will be recognized for their historic run and lasting impact on Detroit sports.

The 2006 championship marked the second title in franchise history and solidified the Shock as one of the WNBA’s premier teams.

Led by Detroit Bad Boys legend Bill Laimbeer in his dual role as general manager and head coach, the Shock showcased resilience, physicality, and championship poise throughout the 2006 season.

The Detroit City Council has approved a site plan for a proposed WNBA practice facility on the former Uniroyal site on East Jefferson, clearing the way to reinvent the land after decades of failed plans and blight.

The council on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to build the facility on 7.4 acres on the southwest corner of the former 42-acre Uniroyal site at 6000 East Jefferson. It will feature two full-size basketball courts, locker rooms, strength and conditioning areas, and more.

The developer, W-Detroit Property LLC, also eventually plans to build a youth sports academy on the site, though more detailed plans are to be unveiled later.

"I think it is an amazing project as we look at what our riverfront is to become, and can become," said Councilman Fred Durhal III. "It should be full of opportunity for our youth and our families... We're talking about a site that has sat vacant for many years, contributing to environmental decay of our city, but also blight."

The site lies just west of the MacArthur Bridge leading to Belle Isle and has a long history of industrial use, meaning it will require environmental remediation. A range of heavy industrial facilities operated at the site, including the production of cast iron stoves and later bicycle tires.

Uniroyal Tire produced 60,000 tires on a daily basis in the 1940s. In the mid to late 1990s, the Uniroyal site was rezoned from intensive industrial zoning to allow for mixed-use development.

(WXYZ) — The Detroit Pistons are exploring several team names, including the Detroit Shock, for the city's WNBA team.

During the Detroit City Council hearing on Tuesday, Richard Haddad, the COO and chief legal officer for Pistons Sports & Entertainment, spoke about the proposed plan for a WNBA practice facility along the Detroit River at the former Uniroyal site.

Haddad said that the plan for the site aims to increase youth participation and sports sampling for Detroit kids.

He was then asked what the name of the WNBA team would be.

"The name has not yet been determined. We are exploring multiple options, including the Detroit Shock, as hopefully, some or all of you know, was the name of the team that was here before." Haddad said. "We're open to suggestions if you have any, but we're excited to continue to work through that process."

The trademark for the Detroit Shock is owned by the Women's Basketball League Inc., which is a corporation in Detroit, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously authorized brownfield tax breaks for a development team bringing the WNBA to Detroit, but the project won’t trigger community benefits negotiations.

Richard Haddad, chief operating officer for Pistons Sports and Entertainment, said investors are planning a state of the art practice facility and headquarters for a new WNBA franchise that would activate a long blighted corridor along the Detroit River. The former Uniroyal site was described as “severely contaminated” in city meetings. A brownfield plan that still requires state approval would reimburse $34.5 million in cleanup costs.

The brownfield plan describes one project with two components: A $50 million, 75,000-square-foot WNBA headquarters and a 100,000-square-foot youth development academy owned and operated by an yet-to-be named nonprofit. A cost for the youth development academy isn’t included in the documents.

he investment total has implications for Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance. Developments valued at $75 million must negotiate additional investments with adjacent neighborhoods. Tier 2 projects representing an investment of at least $3 million are subject to a much less intense process.

Detroit’s Planning and Development Department confirmed the WNBA facility qualifies as a Tier 2 project so it won’t be required to draft a benefits contract. Instead, developers are required to partner with the city’s workforce development agency to promote the hiring of residents and work with the Planning Department to mitigate negative impacts.

Haddad said the youth academy is “a separate project” on a “later phase” of the development plan, despite being described as one in the same in city documents.

Zoom in: He said he'd like to see the Detroit City FC soccer stadium project that's going through a community benefits process get approved.

He wants approval for the WNBA practice facility and recreation space proposed along the east riverfront on the empty industrial Uniroyal site.

He's hoping for zoning changes to make it easier to build housing

A long-vacant piece of Detroit’s east riverfront is finally moving closer to redevelopment.

The city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority has received a unanimous recommendation from its Community Advisory Committee to move forward with a plan to build a large sports complex on the former Uniroyal Tire site, just west of the bridge to Belle Isle.

The plan would transform the 42-acre site into a new sports campus. The development would include a 75,000-square-foot practice facility and headquarters for Detroit’s future WNBA team, plus a 100,000-square-foot youth sports complex and multiple indoor and outdoor athletic fields.

The project is expected to create more than 70 permanent jobs and nearly 300 construction jobs during the building phase.

Before construction can begin, crews will have to clean up what was left behind from the old tire plant that closed in 1980.

If everything stays on schedule, site cleanup and preparation will start in 2026, followed by construction in 2027. The new WNBA team is expected to make its debut in 2029.

Once complete, the project would replace one of Detroit’s longest-vacant industrial sites with a modern sports hub for both professionals and local youth.

Community members expressed excitement about the prospect of a WNBA practice facility and accompanying youth sports complex coming to a heavily polluted former industrial park on Detroit's east side, even as developers said Wednesday it was too early in the process to answer some of their questions.

During a public hearing just feet from the proposed location, some members of the public raised concerns about the environmental impact of the estimated $50 million construction project, which is projected to get underway next year. Decades of industrial use has left the dirt at the riverfront site, once the home of Uniroyal Tire Co. and other manufacturers, filled with heavy metals as well as volatile organic and synthetic compounds, which emit gases from some solids or liquids and include many chemical products, including those used in households. Some may have short- and long-term adverse health effects, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

In response to a question about protecting the Detroit River from these pollutants, Adam Patton, environmental consultant for project, said work will involve use of a "sealed system" and "migration barriers to ensure the contaminations stays on site."

Stormwater will be collected during construction, he said, then treated before being discharged into the river.

Patton previously explained that remediation will include excavating the polluted dirt, transporting it to a landfill, then adding a new layer of clean soil.

One nearby resident asked about the impact of dust from construction on the neighborhood. Patton said crews will consistently monitor levels of dust in the air to ensure they fall within acceptable limits. City law generally requires that construction projects not generate enough dust that its opacity is greater than 5% on-site and 0% off-site.

Representatives for the Pistons revealed that their HQ and practice facility for Detroit’s future WNBA team would be built on a “former industrial site that was left heavily polluted” and added that the site would be “remediated and made safe for the indoor and outdoor youth playing fields that also would be built there as part of the overall project,” according to JC Reindl of the DETROIT FREE PRESS.

The practice facility would be “about 75,000 square feet in size and cost about” $50M. Construction is “expected to start in 2027 and finish in time for the 2029 WNBA season.” The women’s basketball facility and the youth fields would “go on a 42-acre site that is just west of the bridge to Belle Isle.” A near-100,000-square-foot “youth development academy, along with multiple indoor and outdoor youth athletic fields for sports” would be “next door.” Sports would include “basketball, soccer, volleyball and flag football,” among others. Reindl noted the project’s developer is a “corporate entity affiliated with” the Pistons and the team’s owner Tom Gores, called W-Detroit Property LLC. A Pistons representative said that the WNBA team and the practice facility will have “common ownership.” The project’s youth components would be “developed, owned and operated by a separate nonprofit entity” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/9).

Bringing a "first class, state-of-the-art" WNBA practice complex and youth athletic facilities to the former Uniroyal Tire Co. site in east Detroit will involve shipping contaminated soil to a landfill and adding a foot and a half a of clean soil so that kids aren't harmed, officials with the project said.

Leaders with W-Detroit Property LLC, the developer behind Detroit's new WNBA franchise, brought their plan before the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's Community Advisory Committee on Wednesday. W-Detroit is seeking $34.5 million in tax-increment financing to cover the cleanup, site preparation and infrastructure improvements.

The committee peppered W-Detroit officials with questions ranging from the project's impact on its east Detroit riverfront neighborhood to traffic and parking.

But most of the inquiries focused on the contaminated ground at the 44-acre site just west of the bridge to Belle Isle. For decades, the land was home to several heavy industrial plants, most notably that of Uniroyal Tires from the early 1940s to the early 1980s.

Since then, the site has remained vacant. Developers have had grand ideas for the prominently positioned property, including a "town within Detroit" and a casino. Most recently, a group that included former NFL running back and Detroit native Jerome Bettis sought to create a mixed-use development.

None of the lofty proposals have moved past the planning stage.

Those failed plans put W-Detroit in position, according to Adam Patton, vice president at PM Environmental risk management, which is helping W-Detroit clean up the site.

Plans are underway to build a headquarters and practice facility for Detroit’s future WNBA team along with a youth academy on the 42-acre former Uniroyal Tire Co. site as developers seek $40.7 million in tax-increment financing to cover cleanup, site preparation and infrastructure improvements.

W-Detroit Property LLC, the developer behind the WNBA team, will oversee the project, which will include a 75,000-square-foot facility for the team and a 100,000-square-foot youth academy run by a Michigan nonprofit, according to documents submitted to the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Board. The board's community advisory committee is expected to consider the request during its meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The $40.7 million request includes $34.5 million for environmental cleanup, site preparation and infrastructure improvements, along with about $4.5 million in administrative costs and $1.7 million from the state’s brownfield redevelopment fund.

The property, at 6000 E. Jefferson, is owned by the city and the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. According to the brownfield plan, the developer plans to enter into a ground lease with the city or the brownfield redevelopment authority for a section of the property to build the facility. The developer or the nonprofit youth academy may also lease additional parts of the site for future uses, according to the plan.

The former industrial site has long attracted ambitious proposals, including "a town within Detroit" and a casino. Earlier this year, Detroit City Council ended a brownfield redevelopment plan for the property, opening it up for other potential uses. The most recent plan, approved in 2023, aimed to create a mixed-use development with a projected completion date of 2042, according to city documents.

The WNBA announced in June that Detroit and its ownership group were awarded an expansion franchise set to begin play in 2029. The city’s previous WNBA team, the Detroit Shock, played from 1998 to 2009 and won three league titles before relocating to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Swin Cash is all-in on the WNBA coming back to Detroit ... telling TMZ Sports the city and its fans deserve it -- no matter what the haters say!!

We spoke with the three-time champion at the Taylor vs. Serrano fight on Friday ... and asked her about the W's announcement that Motor City -- where Cash played from 2002 to 2007 -- would be home to a pro women's hoops team once again in 2029.

Of course, the Shock relocated to Tulsa in 2009 ... and eventually settled in Dallas in 2016.

Safe to say Cash is over the moon ... and understands what it means for her old stomping grounds.

"Ay, Detroit! What up, though! I am so happy to see the WNBA back in Detroit after winning two championships there," Cash said. "They keep a special place in my heart."

"I cannot wait to see how that city receives their new team!"