The Tampa Bay region’s roster of pro sports teams has a new addition on the way. The UpShot League, a professional women’s basketball league launched in 2026, announced that Tampa will be one of the new cities in its 2027 expansion of franchises.
The yet-to-be-named Tampa team will play at the Yuengling Center beginning in the 2027 season, which tips off in May. The new team is already accepting deposits on season tickets for the inaugural season, in case you’d like to get in on the ground floor.
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The UpShot League, backed by several big name investors, is still working on gaining traction and remains secondary to the WNBA. However, with women’s basketball (and women’s sports in general) becoming more popular than ever, there is optimism that a secondary league can catch on. All UpShot games are streamed on YouTube, as well as some TV and satellite broadcasts.
The league’s first season featured four teams, with franchises in Jacksonville, Savannah, Charlotte and Greensboro. Tampa being involved in the first round of expansion makes geographic sense for the Southeastern-centric league. It also provides a strong pathway for all the graduating college talent in the region, particularly those who harbor WNBA dreams but lack WNBA contracts. Several players from The UpShot’s inaugural campaign went on to sign WNBA deals.
The Tampa Bay Area, of course, is no stranger to expansion franchises or new leagues. The region’s newest team, Tampa Bay Sun FC, is now in its third year of the Gainbridge Super League, after winning the new soccer league’s first-ever title in 2025.
Fellow expansion franchise Tampa Bay Rays are one of the hottest teams in the MLB Playoffs right now, while the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first, and still only, team to win the Super Bowl in its home stadium. In fact, even the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies originally got their start as an expansion soccer team back in the ’70s, though leagues and names have changed (and changed back) since then.
While we have months to go until the new Tampa UpShot franchise debuts, you can still get involved immediately. Ownership is asking locals for help naming the new team. The last time the city was asked for help naming something, we were blessed with Phoebe the flamingo at Tampa International Airport. Fingers crossed this newcomer becomes just as popular.
