PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is on a short list of possible WNBA expansion cities in the next two or three years, according to Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Before Sunday’s All-Star Game in Chicago, Engelbert — a Collingswood, New Jersey native — said the league has been analyzing “about 100 cities through a lens of psychographics, demographics, arena, NCAA fandom, current WNBA fandom, merch sales and viewership.”
“[There’s] probably 10 or 15 cities very interested in hosting a WNBA team,” she said.
Engelbert acknowledged her Philadelphia roots as well as her father’s ties to Saint Joseph’s University. Basketball great Dawn Staley and WNBA champion Natasha Cloud are from the region too, coupled with a Villanova men’s basketball team that has won two recent championships.
Overall, she called Philadelphia a great basketball city, and she sees its WNBA potential.
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“We have to evaluate whether [it is] a good market for women’s basketball,” she added.
The 12-team WNBA will eventually make that decision. Engelbert wants to expand by a couple of teams by 2024 and likely no later than 2025.
There are many factors that will determine whether Philadelphia will finally get a WNBA team — something many feel is long overdue.
“We’re looking for the right ownership groups with the right commitment, the right arena situation, the right city to support a WNBA franchise,” Engelbert said.
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An ownership group doesn’t necessarily have to already be running teams in Philadelphia, she noted. A source told KYW Newsradio it’s too early to link the Sixers — who are run by Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE) — to any efforts to start a WNBA franchise.
A spokesperson for Comcast Spectacor pointed to a recent Inquirer article on the lack of major women’s pro sports in Philadelphia. Comcast Spectacor President of Business Operations Valerie Camillo told the Inquirer, “the Wells Fargo Center would make a perfect home for a WNBA team here in Philly.” However, it doesn’t appear that Comcast is actively trying to add a WNBA team to its subsidiaries at this time.