Tulsa's new WNBA team will retain the Shock name after relocating from Detroit and will bring along the franchise's championship banners to hang from the rafters.
During an unveiling ceremony Saturday at the BOK Center, the franchise announced the results of a fan vote selecting the team name as the Tulsa Shock.
An Oklahoma-based ownership group bought the team in October and announced plans to relocate to Tulsa. Fans were given the chance to vote for the team name online. Shock received 38% of the votes, with Tempo getting 32% and Fire tallying 30%.
The team will be rebranded with new colors -- red, black and a golden yellow -- and a new logo was created featuring a lightning bolt through the word Shock and an art deco design around Tulsa.
However, team president Steve Swetoha said the banners from the Shock's three WNBA championships in Detroit will be hung above the court in the BOK Center.
"If I hang some championship banners in the rafters, I think that also gives us come credibility," Swetoha said.
Other than the banners and the players left under contract with Detroit, most everything else about the franchise will be new. Tulsa already has hired former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson to replace Rick Mahorn and serve as general manager, and the rest of the team's employees will be new hires.
"It's just like starting a brand new team," said NBA vice president of team marketing and strategic planning Donna Daniels, who has helped oversee the transition.
Daniels has helped with the hiring of some of the team's executives who will oversee ticket sales, corporate sponsorships and other core business areas. Swetoha, who was involved with the creation of the Charlotte Sting over a five-month stretch in 2003, started as team president this week and spent his first full day working in Tulsa on Thursday.
"We talked to a lot of the Detroit staff and I've worked with actually their (chief operating officer) to see if there was anybody who would have liked to come down here, and we just didn't end up with any," Daniels said. "It would have been nice, but we have an amazing staff and we're very happy with who we have on board so far."
"On the players' side, in that area, it's not exactly starting from scratch," she added. "But in every way else, especially on the business side, definitely starting from scratch."
Under Swetoha's leadership, the Shock will work toward finalizing arrangements for a practice facility and office space -- the team has been sharing space with a downtown public relations firm -- and starting up a marketing campaign and community program in the months to come. Eventually, lead investor Bill Cameron wants to start a wide-reaching youth basketball program under the Shock brand.
Most of the Shock players are currently playing overseas, but the team will also help them find housing as the May 15 season opener draws closer.
The name announcement opens the door for more pieces to fall into place, including the creation of uniforms and the design of a mascot. Swetoha said the team hopes to show preliminary uniform designs to the ownership group next month. They won't be unveiled until the spring.
Swetoha said he hopes his experience in Charlotte will help Tulsa avoid some pitfalls as it prepares for its inaugural season.
"We've really had a chance to see what had worked, what didn't work and how to change it," said Swetoha, who also has worked in the NFL, NHL and NBA. "So we're bringing some of those experiences with us to Tulsa."
SOURCE: The Associated Press
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