Detroit Shock to move to Tulsa, Okla.


Many sports fans out there will yell and scream that the WNBA is not a sport, and that may well be, however they do have specific market and some of their teams have been very successful both on the court and in the stands. However WNBA teams do not far well when they are in larger markets where other sports franchises have the monopoly on fans attention and pocketbooks.

The Detroit Shock have been one of the more successful WNBA teams, since their inception in 1998 they have won three WNBA titles, however they have never been able to draw a large fan base, nor have they been able to negotiate a TV deal for the local Detroit area. With all that in mind reports are beginning to leak that the Shock have been sold and will be relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Beyond their failure to draw fans, this might be a symptom of something else entirely. Detroit Piston and Shock Owner Bill Davidson recently died and this may simply be a selling off an asset. Davidson also owned the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL and recently sold that team off as well. Of course Detroit is a city that features Pro teams in all four major American Sports and the Shock have never been able to attract a large amount of fans to their games.

Detroit is not a great market for fringe sports, that city has seen two different Arena Football team fail, even though the Detroit Drive were sold off as owner Mike Illitch bought the Detroit Tigers of the MLB. The simple fact here is Detroit is not a great market for fringe type sports. Beyond the four pro teams we have to add in the popularity of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. That is six teams all more popular that the WNBA. So a move to a city with less competition makes much business sense.

Share this article: Detroit Shock to move to Tulsa, Okla.
More from Inquisitr