Upshot League brass addressed media members ahead of the launch of its inaugural season on May 15. The U.S. women’s basketball league is co-founded by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment CEO Andy Kaufmann, former WNBA President Donna Orender -- who also serves as commissioner -- and Deloitte veteran Mark Walsh. Former WNBAer Taj McWilliams-Franklin oversees basketball operations as vice president.
Four teams -- the Jacksonville Waves, Savannah Steel, Greensboro Groove, and Charlotte Crown -- will each play 34 regular-season games as the campaign coincides with the WNBA’s schedule. Player salaries were not disclosed, but each team will carry 11 players drawn from college, the WNBA, and overseas.
Kaufmann said Upshot has already raised $40M, in addition to securing “over 90 partners.” Basketball HOFers Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller, and Ann Meyers Drysdale are among the league’s notable investors and serve as advisors.
Upshot’s revenue model is based on Zawyer Sports’ “experience and success” in minor-league hockey, driven by ticket sales and sponsorships, according to Kaufmann. Zawyer Sports owns, manages and operates the Waves, Steel, Groove, Crown and expansion franchise Upshot Baltimore.
“It’s built for sustainability,” he said.
Within the women’s basketball ecosystem, Kaufmann emphasized that Upshot is a “professional” and “major” league. He envisions Upshot expanding to 30 teams nationwide. Additional franchises are to be announced. Expansion teams in Baltimore and Nashville are already slated to join next year, with Walsh serving as Upshot Nashville’s managing partner and majority owner.
“2027, looking at six to eight teams. 2028, ten to twelve teams, and on and on we go on our way to thirty teams,” Kaufmann said.
Orender noted that details on league partners will be announced at a later date but confirmed that Molten will be Upshot’s official ball provider, while Basketball HOFer Shaquille O’Neal’s Dunkman brand will be the uniform sponsor. All games will be available on Upshot’s YouTube channel. In addition, Orender said the league’s broader media package, which includes over-the-air distribution and national coverage, is still being finalized.
To start, Upshot is projecting sellouts in all four markets for opening games, which will be hosted at minor-league hockey and NBA G League venues.
“[It is] very special and also indicative of the viability of this league,” Kaufmann said.
