The Providence club will be the eighth team in the league, which completed its inaugural season earlier this year with four teams. It joins Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Nashville as the league's expansion class for 2027. The Upshot season runs through August.

The league is designed as a development pipeline for players aiming to reach the WNBA, giving Providence a new professional sports tenant and another venue for women's athletics in the capital city.

Gov. Dan McKee, who told the announcement crowd he is comfortable talking basketball, shared a story about his daughter and the game before describing the franchise's significance.

"A win for women's sports, a win for a capital city, and a win for Rhode Island," McKee said.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley framed the team as a long-term civic investment rather than a temporary sports attraction.

"It is our belief and goal that this will become not just a great team but a true institution in this community," Smiley said.

The ownership group is asking residents to help name the franchise, with submissions accepted online. The league is using the same community-naming approach for its Tampa team.

The arrival of a women's professional basketball team adds to Providence's sports landscape and offers local fans a summer season that runs through August, when the city's other major sports offerings are typically quieter. For a league still in its early years, the Providence market represents a bet that a mid-sized New England city can sustain women's professional basketball — and that a community-rooted identity, starting with its name, can help build an audience from the ground up.