A group of investors, including former governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam, made a bid Thursday to bring a WNBA team to Nashville. If the bid is successful, the team will be named after the queen of Tennessee basketball herself, Pat Summitt. Haslam, who will also take over as majority owner of the Nashville Predators in July, and his wife Crissy are heading up the ownership team, which also includes a group of celebrity investors. Candace Parker, Peyton Manning, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are all on board to help bring women's pro basketball to Nashville. "This is going to be Tennessee's team," Crissy told The Tennessean. "There's going to be families with daughters who play basketball, but there are going to be people who don't even know yet that they are going to love this sport." If the bid is successful, the Tennessee franchise will begin playing in the summer of 2028 at Bridgestone Arena. SIGN UP FOR TUBI AND STREAM SUPER BOWL LIX FOR FREE Nashville Expansion Team Would Honor Late Coach Pat Summitt The team would be called "Tennessee Summitt" in honor of former University of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who coached the Lady Vols for 38 years and won eight NCAA Championship titles. Summitt died in 2016 due to complications from early-onset Alzheimer's-type dementia. "As a fierce competitor, my mom was proud of the Lady Vols’ championships and success, but she was also a huge advocate for women’s sports and women in leadership," said Tyler Summitt, son of the legendary coach and co-founder of the Pat Summitt Leadership Group and Pat Summitt Foundation. "I know she would be proud and honored to be included in the expansion of women’s professional basketball into Tennessee." Parker, who was on two of Summitt's national championship teams, said she's excited to help bring women's pro hoops to the Volunteer State. "Tennessee is the DNA of everything women's basketball stands for," Parker said. "I'm excited to be part of the group working to bring a WNBA team to the state and honor Coach Summitt's legacy." The WNBA is adding three expansion teams in the next two seasons, with Golden State, Portland and Toronto joining to boost the league's franchises to 15. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said the WNBA would like to add a 16th team by the 2028 season. RELATED: The Caitlin Clark Effect? WNBA Awards Expansion Team To Portland Engelbert said in April 2024 that Nashville "certainly" is a candidate for expansion, along with cities like Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Kansas City.