Peyton Manning part of Nashville bid group for WNBA team
Jan 30, 2025, 11:54 AM | Updated: Mar 18, 2025, 3:24 pm
On the day Denver officially became the 16th member of the National Women’s Soccer League, local sports hero Peyton Manning was announced as part of a bid for a Women’s National Basketball Association expansion team in Tennessee as women’s sports continue to skyrocket in the United States.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer and Broncos legend joins the owners of the Nashville Predators, Bill Haslam, women’s basketball icon Candace Parker and entertainers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as the team behind the bid. They hope to get the city of Nashville a club named the Tennessee Summitt, in honor of the late Pat Summitt, playing for the start of the 2028 season.
The team has a clear plan in place for its WNBA team. They would build a practice facility that also would be used for youth basketball. The team would play its home games at Bridgestone Arena, home to the Predators—an easy connection with Haslam.
It’s all part of exceptional growth in the WNBA, which is adding three expansion teams in the next two seasons with Golden State, Portland and Toronto giving the league 15 teams. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said the WNBA would like to add a 16th team by the 2028 season. Cleveland had been the most recent city to announce a bid for a team. Though, Denver has been flirting and a finalist for a team in the past.
There hasn’t been much chatter about Denver regarding the WNBA since April, which is the first the public heard anything after the Mile High City lost out to San Francisco.
But Denver’s biggest problem is facility-based. The bid’s best option for a home was DU’s Magness Arena, which the league did not like. Without a connection to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Ball Arena is unlikely to host the team. Additionally, neither the Avalanche nor Nuggets have their own practice facility and a WNBA team plopping up with their own seems challenging.
The Centennial State is a hotbed for women’s sports, as proved by the NWSL’s Thursday announcement. On the hardwood, we have had the Colorado Xplosion, Colorado Chill and others but none have struck around. But soccer and basketball may be crossing paths now with the WNBA possibly waiting out Denver to see how it responds to soccer first.
As for Manning, his off-the-field empire continues. His hugely successful Omaha Productions continues to add shows all the while his profile somehow has possibly raised since he retired from football. Getting involved with a bunch of his former alumni in Tennessee for a business deal in sports is a no-brainer. However, if he gets his wish, it could keep Denver from being team No. 16 in the WNBA as well.
