Candace Parker, Peyton Manning among ownership group working to bring Tennessee Summitt WNBA team to Nashville

The WNBA is continuing to expand as the league gets more and more popular, thanks in part to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. Nashville, Tennessee is the latest city to put in a bid for a WNBA Team, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

A group that includes Bill and Crissy Haslam, Candace Parker, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Peyton Manning put in a bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to Nashville on Thursday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.

If the bid is accepted, the team will reportedly be called the Tennessee Summitt, named after University of Tennessee coaching legend Pat Summitt. She led the Vols program from 1974-2012, winning eight national championships and reaching the Final Four 18 times.

Pat Summitt, who is a Tennessee native, died in 2016 at the age of 64 after being diagnosed with early-onset dementia in the form of Alzheimer’s.

There are currently 13 WNBA teams, with more expected to be added in the coming years.

“This is going to be Tennessee’s team,” Crissy Haslam said, according to The Tennessean. “There’s going to be families with daughters who play basketball, but there are going to be people who don’t even know yet that they are going to love this sport.”

Candace Parker and Peyton Manning are two of the biggest names in Tennessee sports history.

Parker starred for the Vols while playing for Pat Summitt, winning a pair of national titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Awards, before going on to be one of the best players in the WNBA and winning three WNBA championships. Parker retired in 2024.

“Tennessee is the DNA of everything women’s basketball stands for,” Parker said, according to The Tennessean. “I’m excited to be part of the group working to bring a WNBA team to the state and honor Coach Summitt’s legacy.”

As for Peyton Manning, he also played at Tennessee, before going on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Manning won two Super Bowls and five MVP awards. He was named a first-team All-Pro seven times. As a Vol, Manning won the SEC Player of the Year and was a Consensus All-American.

If Tennessee is awarded a WNBA franchise, the home arena would Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, according to The Tennessean. However, the paper reports that some games could potentially be played in Knoxville, Memphis and Clarksville, as well.

Bill Haslam told The Tennessean that he expects an answer from the WNBA in five or six months.