The WNBA is expanding, and one person with close ties to the women’s basketball league thinks Jacksonville would be an ideal city for a team.
Donna Orender, president of the WNBA from 2005 to 2011, is leading a group seeking an expansion franchise for Jacksonville, according to a Sept. 23 story by Sports Business Journal.
Orender now runs a Jacksonville Beach consulting and advisory firm called Orender Unlimited.
She told the sports business news site that she has an investment group interested in bringing a team to play in the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Downtown Jacksonville.
“It’s a major league arena, it’s the right size. You can fill it,” she said, according to Sports Business Journal.
Orender said Jacksonville was the 10th largest viewing market for the WNBA when she was president, and it would be an ideal site for an expansion team.
“I’ve traveled all around the country trying to sell teams, move teams, etc. — I think Jacksonville, Florida, measures up as well, if not better than most,” she said in the interview.
Orender did not identify the investment group.
Her husband, MG Orender, is president of Jacksonville-based Hampton Golf, which owns or manages 32 golf courses in Florida, New York, Ohio, Minnesota and Tennessee.
Sports Business Journal said the price for a WNBA expansion franchise is expected to be as much as $200 million to $250 million.
The WNBA has 12 teams but has announced an expansion team in San Francisco will begin play in 2025 and additional teams in Toronto and Portland will join the league in 2026.
The WNBA is expanding as attendance and television viewership grows, helped by new stars entering the league this year including Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Jacksonville will have stiff competition for an expansion team if the WNBA decides to add just one more. Sports Business Journal reported groups in Orlando and South Florida, as well as investors in major markets including Philadelphia and Houston, have expressed interest.
Messages left with the Orender Unlimited office seeking more information were not returned.