While the bulk of women’s basketball fans are fixed on our 15 WNBA teams, there is another newly created organization that is giving the W a run for its money.
That new league is the Upshot League which is headquartered in Jacksonville. Its first season will include four teams – the Jacksonville Waves, the Charlotte Crown, the Savannah Steel and the Greensboro Groove.
The new league is being hailed as somewhat of a G-League equivalent for the WNBA as it features a number of names familiar to women’s basketball fans but are currently not on WNBA team rosters. Here are five thoughts we had about the rollout of the new Upshot League.
Southern Hospitality
The strategy of the Upshot League clearly is to fill the glaring void that the WNBA has when it comes to a presence in the south. Currently, there is only one WNBA team in the geographic southeast. That team, of course, is the Atlanta Dream.
All four of Upshot’s franchises are in the southeast – including two in the basketball hotbed that is North Carolina in Charlotte and Greensboro. Filling the women’s professional basketball void in markets without the WNBA is key to Upshot’s growth plans – and the south is a very great place to start considering the large women’s basketball fandom that exists in that part of the country.
Another obvious advantage of having all four of its initial teams in relative close proximity to each other is travel. Unlike the cross-country (and now international because of the Toronto Tempo) treks WNBA teams have to make, the four Upshot League teams do not have to worry about exorbitant journeys simply to get to their ensuing contests.
Competition for WNBA
If one were to ask anyone at the Upshot League in terms of how they fit in the overall women’s basketball sphere, one may say that it is a compliment to the W because of its status as a G-League equivalent.
The WNBA may believe otherwise. How these alternative leagues are noticed (or not) by the W is a side story of any of these various leagues. It had no issues promoting Athletes Unlimited on its App but did not acknowledge Unrivaled during its season – particularly as Unrivaled was taking place amidst the CBA negotiations at the time (Athletes Unlimited was as well).
One can guess that Upshot will likely receive the treatment similar to what Unrivaled received this past season. After all, there is an actual WNBA season taking place and Upshot’s regular season will last from this month until August.
Expansion Next Year
As we saw with Unrivaled going from a six-team season in 2025 to eight franchises in 2026, the same will also be the case with the Upshot League beginning in 2027.
Joining the Greensboro Groove, Savannah Steel, Charlotte Crown and Jacksonville Waves will be new teams arriving in Baltimore and Nashville.
Both of these new teams will also be very popular. Placing a women’s basketball franchise in Tennessee will always be a hit because of how passionate Tennesseans are about their Lady Vols. Maryland is another major basketball state.
Close Games
Three games have been played so far in the inaugural season of the Upshot League. So far, the largest margin of victory has been eight games. That occurred when the Crown defeated the Waves by a final score of 103-95.
Two other contests have also taken place – both featuring the Groove and the Steel. So far, Greensboro has got the better of Savannah. The Groove defeated the Steel by a final score of 85-81 on Opening Day which was this past Friday. The two teams did battle again in a more high-scoring get-together but resulted in another Groove victory – this time with the result being 107-105 over the Steel.
Harmoni Turner has been among Greensboro’s signature players – along with Lasha Petree, Zee Spearman, Iyanna Moore and Lauryn Taylor.
Easily Accessible
One of the aspects of Upshot that has been touted by the league is the easy accessibility of games. They are available on YouTube as well as locally in the Jacksonville, Charlotte, Greensboro and Savannah markets.
The league itself has a YouTube page. The only game currently on said page is the matchup between the Crown and Waves where Charlotte won by a final score of 103-95. The other two between Greensboro and Savannah are on a separate YouTube channel called Zawyer Productions. Andy Kaufman, who co-founded Upshot with former WNBA league president Donna Orender, is also the CEO of Zawyer Sports and Entertainment which operates Upshot.
Taj McWilliams-Franklin is Upshot’s Vice President of Basketball Operations and it has brought on Cheryl Miller and Ann Meyers Drysdale as investors and advisors. It also has a partnership with Shaquille O’Neal’s Dunkman brand.
The May 16 game was hit with a copyright strike because it supposedly played music owned by Sony.
The Steel are aired locally on WJCL-TV 22 – the area’s ABC station – and will play its home games at Enmarket Arena. The Groove’s local television partner is WMYV-TV My47 and will play its games at Novant Health Fieldhouse. The Waves’ games emanate from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and has its games air on WJXT-TV. The Crown calls Bojangles Coliseum its home and has its games air on WCCB-TV.
