Professional women’s basketball will return to North Carolina in a little over a year.
Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, the sports managing group that owns the Gastonia Ghost Peppers, the Charlotte Checkers and the newly formed Greensboro Gargoyles hockey team, announced last week that Greensboro and Charlotte will be home to two of the original teams in its UpShot League, a professional women’s basketball league set to begin play in May 2026.
Greensboro and Charlotte joins Jacksonville, Florida and Savannah, Georgia as the four markets that will play during the inaugural season. Charlotte will play its home games at Bojangles Coliseum, and Greensboro will play at Novant Health Fieldhouse.
“Charlotte has long been a city where sports thrive, boasting a rich tapestry of teams and events that cater to a diverse fan base and contribute to our vibrant sports culture,” Steve Bagwell, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said. “Bojangles Coliseum is a venue with deep roots in our city’s history, and we are honored to host the UpShot League, where they will undoubtedly create new and exciting memories for our community.”
Said Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, “To see the explosion of women’s basketball on TV has been amazing in the last two years. Great personalities. Women play every bit as hard as men, and I think people are beginning to see that they’re physical, they’re fast, they’re talented, they’re committed. So, it’s wonderful that we will have a new UpShot team here to compliment the Swarm.”
Charlotte has a name-the-team contest at theupshotcharlotte.com/name-the-team/ while the naming contest for the Greensboro team is underway at theupshotgreensboro.com/name-the-team/.
The UpShot League’s regular season will consist of 40 games with 20 played at home and 20 played away.
Season ticket options will start at $44 per seat, a price based on the new 44 open player positions that the league will create.
Charlotte and Greensboro will look to fill the void left behind by the Charlotte Sting, the former WNBA franchise that folded in 2007. The Sting, which drafted Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Dawn Staley in 1999, played 10 seasons and made an appearance in the WNBA Finals in 2001.
Since then, women’s basketball in North Carolina has centered around its college programs with NC State, Duke and UNC producing some of the nation’s top players and teams over the years.
“The Upshot league is fueled by the growth of women’s sports globally, but more specifically here in the United States,” Alex Reed, the director of communications and team services at Zawyer Sports, said during Greensboro’s team announcement. “The mission statement is to build upon the movement of women’s sports upward and through the vitality of women while building and celebrating our communities.”
Said Reed, “It’s something where you look at the success of the WNBA recently. Obviously, it has really kind of ignited the sport, but there’s only so many positions there, and there’s so many talented athletes looking to play professionally. And, the UpShot is going to give these women an opportunity to do so.”
UpShot commissioner Donna Orender, a former professional women’s basketball player and a former president of the WNBA, said the interest to invest in the league has been “really robust.”
Members of the UpShot League investment group include Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller, former women’s basketball player and WNBA and NBA executive Ann Meyers Drysdale, former WBA boxing champion Seniesa Estrada, former University of Florida basketball player and founder of PY4 Foundation Patric Young, American actress Annie Q. and American film producer Chris Robert.
“The UpShot league is about investing in people, in athletes, in coaches, front offices,” Orender said. “It’s about bringing new ownership in.”
Said Orender, “What we’re also proud of is all the new women who are now sitting at ownership tables, and we want to continue that.”
Orender also said that the UpShot League will bring her Generation W and Generation WOW programs to the communities in which the league plays in. Generation W is a community of women that aim to educate and connect with each other on relevant issues while also fostering a community of women leadership. Generation WOW emphasizes the growth of young girls, focusing on leadership, mental well-being, financial literacy and career planning.
“I can’t wait to be able to be here with all of those girls, those women and our boys to not only elevate the shot of the women on the court, but all of our kids, our fans and perhaps all of you off the court as well,” Orender said.
