Dwyane Wade is investing big in women's sports.
The Chicago native is joining the ownership group of WNBA’s Chicago Sky, adding ownership stake in another professional basketball franchise after acquiring stake in the NBA’s Utah Jazz and Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake in 2021.
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Wade expressed his thoughts about his investment on social media.
“It’s an incredible feeling being on this side of history,” Wade tweeted. “To see growth, on the business side, for something that I’ve been passionate about my whole life is an amazing feeling. It’s official! This is for the home team — literally. I know the home team will make you feel some type of Wade.”
It’s an incredible feeling being on this side of history. To see growth, on the business side, for something that I’ve been passionate about my whole life is an amazing feeling. There are amazing things happening in the @WNBA. It’s official! This is for the home team– literally.… pic.twitter.com/lsvQovpj5z
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 14, 2023
Wade also told ESPN that he credits his mother for introducing him to the Sky and bringing him to one of their games.
A 10% stake in the Chicago Sky was sold to a group that includes Wade and Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts at an $85 million valuation.
Real Estate mogul Michael Alter remains the majority owner of the team which started in 2006.
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The Sky won the WNBA Championship in 2021, the first year that Candace Parker, Wade’s co-host on TNT, joined the team.
The Sky failed to repeat as champions during the 2022 season and have gone through a massive overhaul over the last year. Four of the team’s five starters from last season did not return as Parker and Sky legend Courtney Vandersloot left in free agency while Allie Quigley and Emma Meesseman decided to not play this season.
The Chicago Sky’s former head coach and general manager James Wade left the team at the start of July for an assistant coaching position with the Toronto Raptors. James Wade had a friendship with Dwyane Wade and was present when the latter visited the Sky’s practice facility last month.
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