At last! Philly to get WNBA franchise in 2030
The WNBA is bringing an expansion association to Philadelphia in The league revealed the news on Monday announcing Cleveland and Detroit as two other cities getting teams in and respectively All three bids are attached to NBA franchises which the WNBA had been vocal about wanting to see Philadelphia is a city with unmatched passion rich basketball tradition and an unwavering love for its teams disclosed WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert a Collingswood N J native It s only fitting that this iconic sports town is decisively home to a WNBA franchise From neighborhood courts to historic college arenas basketball runs deep in Philly and we re proud to bring the W to a city that s ready to embrace it The band will be co-owned by Sixers owners Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment HBSE with Comcast holding a minority stake The pair s efforts to bid for a WNBA franchise were revealed in their agreement to build a new arena in South Philly back in January a surprising final twist in HBSE s initial plans to build an arena in Center City s Arena East The Sixers proven to Billy Penn that the WNBA crew would play in the new South Philly arena when it s ready in Unless that timeline is moved up we assume the group will join the Sixers for the final year at the Xfinity Mobile Arena aka the Wells Fargo Center which will be renamed on Sept It s only right that this city absolutely gets the WNBA franchise it deserves and we re humbled to help usher in a new era of Philadelphia basketball announced HBSE co-owner Josh Harris who also owns the NFL s Washington Commanders Philadelphia will be the league s th band This season the Golden State Valkyries were the latest expansion franchise to join the league The Toronto Tempo and a yet-to-be-named Portland band will be joining in Philly s bid spearheaded by comedian Wanda Sykes and her wife Alex Niedbalski-Sykes originated in Esther Rosen a grassroots advocate for a Philly WNBA franchise who runs the popular WNBA Philly social media accounts not to be confused with the new PhilaWNBA accounts that the band launched at present has already post several reactions to the news on her various accounts WHEEEEEEEEEE WNBA Philly wnbaphilly bsky social - - T Z Watch Party PHL another grassroots advocacy group trying to bring more women s professional teams to Philly also revelled in at present s update Watch Party PHL s goal since its inception was to prove to the WNBA and NWSL that Philadelphia is deserving and excited about the opportunity to join one of the fastest-growing leagues in women s sports the group reported We got exactly what we fought for and now the eyes of the national sports context are on our city The group founded by firefighter Jen Leary has been raising funds to set up a permanent space for the city s first-ever women s sports bar The group s latest updates revealed they are approaching funding for their own gathering space The WNBA organization will join the Philadelphia Surge a women and gender-expansive pro ultimate frisbee company that just finished its third season in the Premier Ultimate League on the short list of Philly s women s professional sports teams The post At last Philly to get WNBA franchise in appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY
