{"id":757781,"date":"2026-06-10T21:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/757781\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T21:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:12:21","slug":"plan-will-keep-grizzlies-in-downtown-memphis-for-decades-chamber-leader-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/757781\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan will keep Grizzlies in downtown Memphis for decades, Chamber leader says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_wreg_articles_184\/651734da84c946be60846321aff16b3a.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 A plan is in the works that will keep the Grizzlies in downtown Memphis for &#8220;multiple decades,&#8221; the leader of the Greater Memphis Chamber says.<\/p>\n<p>Duncan Williams, interim president of the Chamber, told an audience Tuesday that he had a recent meeting with Grizzlies President Jason Wexler and had the opportunity to see plans about what they are planning at the FedExForum and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a matter of if they&#8217;re going to sign, it&#8217;s when,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;They are doing so much work in the FedExForum right now, when y&#8217;all see these plans of what our downtown&#8217;s going to look like in the next decade, it&#8217;s going to blow you away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Grizzlies&#8217; lease at FedExForum runs out after the 2029 season.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"slk:Grizzlies not likely to leave Memphis for Nashville, NBA commissioner says;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\/sports\/grizzlies\/grizzlies-not-likely-to-leave-memphis-for-nashville-nba-commissioner-says\/#:~:text=MEMPHIS%2C%20Tenn.,be%20in%20the%20Bluff%20City.?ipid=promo-link-block1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Grizzlies not likely to leave Memphis for Nashville, NBA commissioner says\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver <a data-ylk=\"slk:has made clear;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\/sports\/grizzlies\/grizzlies-not-likely-to-leave-memphis-for-nashville-nba-commissioner-says\/#:~:text=MEMPHIS%2C%20Tenn.,be%20in%20the%20Bluff%20City.\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">has made clear<\/a> that the league has no plans to move the team out of Memphis, statements from <a data-ylk=\"slk:LeBron James;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\/sports\/lebron-james-on-memphis-grizzlies-just-go-over-to-nashville\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">LeBron James<\/a>, Stephen A. Smith and others have left some fans nervous about the team&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"slk:LeBron James on Memphis Grizzlies: &#039;Just go over to Nashville&#039;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\/sports\/lebron-james-on-memphis-grizzlies-just-go-over-to-nashville\/?ipid=promo-link-block1?ipid=promo-link-block2\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0LeBron James on Memphis Grizzlies: &#8216;Just go over to Nashville&#8217;\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Williams, however, says those fears should be laid to rest.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The bottom line is, it is happening, and it is happening soon, that they will be here for multiple decades,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>It was not clear exactly what is happening, and Williams was deliberately vague on details in his speech.<\/p>\n<p>But local and state leaders have talked for years about millions in <a data-ylk=\"slk:planned renovations for FedExForum;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\/news\/local\/mayor-young-gives-timeline-update-on-fedexforum-renovations\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">planned renovations for FedExForum<\/a>, which was built in 2004, and safety-oriented upgrades to the surrounding area, including Beale Street.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"slk:Council questions whether baseball still best bet for AutoZone Park;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/memphis-city-council-debates-future-162920950.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Council questions whether baseball still best bet for AutoZone Park\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>WREG reached out to the Chamber for more information. They had no comment beyond what Williams said, but said an announcement would be coming soon.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/wreg.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 A plan is in the works that will keep the Grizzlies in downtown Memphis for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,49301,92910,1148,92911,294,293,177,4070,6,181],"class_list":["post-757781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memphis-grizzlies","tag-basketball","tag-downtown-memphis","tag-duncan-williams","tag-fedexforum","tag-greater-memphis-chamber","tag-grizzlies","tag-memphis","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-memphisgrizzlies","tag-nba","tag-the-grizzlies"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116727876706198632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}