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Last season, several WNBA teams struggled to fill their rosters after they were depleted by injuries.
The Dallas Wings had 21 different players suit up, at one point receiving an “extreme hardship” contract due to their lack of personnel. The Indiana Fever were also granted a hardship exception after numerous players sustained season-ending injuries, prompting coaches to plead for additional roster spots.
The WNBA addressed the issue under the new CBA, adding two developmental spots per team and expanding roster sizes to 14. But the problem isn’t completely solved.
When injuries pile up or roster spots open midseason, teams have few readily available replacements because there is no domestic women’s basketball league running simultaneously with the WNBA season.
In the past, teams would poach players playing overseas or hope someone who fits their needs is available somewhere in the U.S. In other sports, some professional leagues have developmental leagues that address this issue. In the NBA, most teams even have their own G League affiliate.
That gap is what The Upshot League says it wants to fill.
Launching May 15, Upshot is a new women’s basketball league led by commissioner Donna Orender, who served as WNBA president from 2005–2010. The league will run from May to September, the same time as the 2026 WNBA season.
Orender told Front Office Sports the idea for Upshot came after an unsuccessful bid for a WNBA expansion team in Jacksonville. (The WNBA chose markets that had already-existing NBA teams and arenas.) After discussions with WNBA executives and coaches, Orender says she felt that creating a league could solve the WNBA’s roster issues.
“There wasn’t enough jobs for the women who had this elite talent and passion to play in the WNBA,” Orender said. “And the WNBA also needed a place where they could go and find players much more easily.”
Upshot announced earlier this week that it had secured $40 million in funding from investors that include Hall-of-Famers Cheryl Miller and Tamika Catchings. Ex-WNBA players are also involved with the league, including VP of basketball operations Taj McWilliams-Franklin, a six-time WNBA All-Star.
Orender said she informed the WNBA of Upshot since it was a “nascent idea,” and is hopeful the two leagues can be partners down the line.
“I think that they are very focused on all the right things right now to build their business. And we’re here looking forward to, you know, having those conversations and figure out the things we can do together,” Orender said.
The WNBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Asked directly whether the The UPSHOT League was a developmental league, Orender rephrased the label to “opportunity.”
“We call ourselves an opportunity league,” Orender said. “I don’t care what level you’re at, be it the best player in the WNBA, you’re still going to want to develop. So we see ourselves as a place of opportunity.”
Orender did not reveal the salaries of Upshot players. (In the previous CBA, another issue WNBA teams faced when trying to secure new players midseason was luring them with pro-rated minimum deals.) She said their contracts will be structured to allow them to leave midseason for the WNBA, if an opportunity arises.
In the WNBA, the new developmental players are paid about $6,000 per active game, the pro-rated minimum salary, for up to 12 games. A developmental player who plays all 12 games will receive about $73,000, more than the 2025 WNBA minimum salary. They will also receive a stipend of $750 per week, on top of the same benefits as standard players, including team housing.
Upshot has yet to announce its complete rosters for its inaugural season, but it has announced several players including four-year WNBA veteran Asia Durr, and 2021 WNBA draft picks Jasmine Walker and Lindsay Pulliam.
The Upshot league will launch with four teams in Jacksonville, Savannah, Greensboro, and Charlotte. They’ve already announced two additional expansion teams for next year in Baltimore and Nashville, and she expects to announce more teams soon.
“We think we’ll have 12 teams in three years and overall, we anticipate building up a 30-market league,” Orender said.
