WNBA’s Shock may leave Tulsa

Tulsa Shock majority owner Bill Cameron announced plans Monday to move the WNBA franchise to the Dallas-Fort Worth market as early as next season. Cameron said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that he hoped the WNBA Board of Governors would vote as soon as possible on the relocation, though the team will finish this season in Tulsa. He said he was proud of the effort by the community since the team moved from Detroit before the 2010 season. There is still hope

for Tulsa; the league’s 12-member board needs to approve the request by majority vote. And not all the team’s owners want to leave. Cameron holds a majority stake, as does David Box, and there are 11 minority owners as well. One of the minority owners, Stuart Price, filed a lawsuit against Cameron on Monday in Tulsa County District Court in hopes that the team will be forced to stay. Tulsa thought it was bringing a winner to town, but most of the players from the powerhouse Detroit teams that won three WNBA titles didn’t move with the team, and the Shock went 6-28 in their first year in Tulsa. In the second year, the team went 3-31. The Shock went 9-25 in 2012, 11-23 in 2013 and 12-22 in 2014. The on-court

struggles were reflected at the gate. According to the Sports Business Journal, attendance has been last in the league the past four years. Tulsa is 10-7 and in third place in the Western Conference.