WNBA officials have spoken about expansion in the past, but chief operating officer Christy Hedgpeth did not\u00a0respond to a request for comment about the bid Monday.<\/p>\n
She\u00a0told CBC news last month\u00a0that the league has no plans to expand “at this time.”<\/p>\n
“We are focused on the overall health and competitiveness of our existing 12 franchises,” she said.<\/p>\n
Bid details called a ‘fluid situation’<\/h2>\n
Escott said\u00a0when it comes to the WNBA, his organization “will have the investors and the financing” to move the bid forward.<\/p>\n
“There’s no way we would even get to the point of announcing the bid in the first place if we didn’t have things like a venue, or corporate partners, or the support of different stakeholders in the community,” he said.<\/p>\n
Escott wouldn’t, however, reveal any details about where the team would play, or its supposed backers.<\/p>\n
“If I were to announce exactly who we’re working with at this point, we could have a different list in three days,” he said. “There’d be no point in announcing some of that right now, because it’s a fluid situation.”<\/p>\n
While the bid’s initial announcement came with much fanfare, criticism is mounting online over a lack of concrete details about it.<\/p>\n
“Grassroots esports is \u2026 a small bite compared to what I would imagine signing a WNBA team would be,” Luellen said.<\/p>\n
“Getting sponsorships on a national scale rather than a small scale like esports is definitely a huge jump.”<\/p>\n