Former Professional Teams
| Club | Sport | League(s) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Gems | Basketball | National Basketball Association | Moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and became the Minneapolis Lakers, would move again to Los Angeles, California and are now the Los Angeles Lakers |
| Detroit (NFL) (Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines) | Football | National Football League | Defunct |
| Detroit Wheels | Football | World Football League | Moved to Charlotte, North Carolina for one game, then disbanded in the middle of the 1974 season |
| Detroit Falcons | Basketball | Basketball Association of America | Defunct |
| Michigan Panthers | Football | USFL | Defunct |
| Detroit Stars | Baseball | Negro National League, 2nd Negro National League, Negro American League | The team ceased operations in 1960 |
| Detroit Wolverines | Baseball | National League | Disbanded, 1888 |
| Michigan Stags | Ice Hockey | World Hockey Association | Moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Blades for the rest of the team's existence |
| Detroit Vipers | Ice Hockey | International Hockey League | Disbanded when IHL became AHL |
| Detroit Drive | Arena football | Arena Football League | Became the Massachusetts Marauders for the 1994 season, then was suspended for three years. |
| Detroit Fury | Arena football | Arena Football League | Franchise terminated September 20, 2004 |
| Grand Rapids Rampage | Arena football | Arena Football League | Franchise terminated March 5, 2010 |
| Michigan Mayhem | Basketball | Continental Basketball Association | Disbanded after 2005-2006 season |
| Detroit Shock | Basketball | WNBA | Moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. |
| Detroit Lightning | Indoor Soccer | Professional | Played at Cobo Arena during 80's-90's? |
| Michigan Hawks | Soccer | W-League | Folded after the 2008 season. |
Read more about this topic: Sports In Michigan
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or teams:
“Smoking ... is downright dangerous. Most people who smoke will eventually contract a fatal disease and die. But they don’t brag about it, do they? Most people who ski, play professional football or drive race cars, will not die—at least not in the act—and yet they are the ones with the glamorous images, the expensive equipment and the mythic proportions. Why this should be I cannot say, unless it is simply that the average American does not know a daredevil when he sees one.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days and feels no shame in not “studying a profession,” for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)