OK Corral: WNBA Shock Relocating From Detroit To Tulsa

Shock Averaged 8,004  Fans In Detroit Last Season

SHOCK WAVES: In Detroit, David Goricki notes the Shock had "become the face of the league this decade as former Pistons' Bad Boy Bill Laimbeer took over as head coach after an 0-10 start in 2002, then lead them to a worst-to-first scenario in 2003 to win the league championship." The Shock were "rumored to be headed to San Antonio during the 2002 season, but Laimbeer persuaded ownership to keep them in metro Detroit." But while the team achieved "tremendous success on the court, the same can't be said for the turnstiles where they were lucky to attract several thousand fans for games" (DETROIT NEWS, 10/20). Also in Detroit, Michael Rosenberg writes the team is "going where it belongs." When a team "in any league wins three championships in 11 years and still can't find a sizable audience, it is time to move on." The WNBA is a "niche product," and for a "niche product to succeed, it needs to find an audience and grow." While the city of Detroit "needs many things," a "ninth major sports team is not one of them." Rosenberg: "The shock was never going to get media attention or generate much water-cooler conversation in Detroit. In Tulsa, the Shock will be a bigger fish in a smaller pond" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/20).

EVERYTHING OK? In Tulsa, Mike Strain wrote, "The good news: The Shock has been a strong franchise. ... Fans love winners, and this team could win." But the franchise "must not have been doing well enough to stay in Detroit," and the WNBA "won't survive more than five years in Tulsa." Strain: "The league has been unstable, with teams moving and folding. That said, a decade ago, I never would have believed women's basketball would have taken off at OU, either" (TULSAWORLD.com, 10/19).

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