Cherelle Parker, 76ers want WNBA team in Philadelphia if arena proposal passes
Philadelphia has a rich basketball history, and Mayor Cherelle Parker and the 76ers want to add a new team to the city for hoops fans to cheer on.
During a public meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center about the plan for the Sixers' proposed Center City arena, Parker said she believes the new arena could help Philadelphia's case to land a WNBA franchise.
"We don't have a WNBA team here in the city of Philadelphia," Parker said on Wednesday night. "Do any of y'all ever notice that? Y'all know y'all mayor don't like that."
On Thursday, the Sixers confirmed that the team will try to bring a WNBA team to the city if the arena gets built.
"We share in Mayor Parker's desire to bring a WNBA franchise to Philadelphia and have been engaged with the league on the process," a Sixers spokesperson said in a statement. "Our goal is for our new arena to serve as home to both the 76ers and a WNBA franchise."
Before Parker shared the hope for a WNBA franchise in the city on Wednesday night, she said she previously worked with a "dynamic group of women" who were trying to bring a team to the city while she was in office as a city councilmember.
While she was the majority leader of City Council, Parker said she had conversations amid the COVID-19 pandemic with then-Mayor Jim Kenney, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Council President Darrell Clarke about bringing a team to the city. Parker said she got support, but they weren't successful.
"I want us to keep working extremely hard, as hard as we can but united together," Parker said.
The WNBA has increased in popularity in recent years, and the league has expanded. By 2026, the WNBA will have 15 teams. Portland, Oregon, Golden State in California and Toronto were all recently awarded expansion franchises.
In April, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who is a Collingswood, New Jersey, native and played college basketball at Lehigh University, said Philadelphia was in the running for a franchise.
The Sixers' arena proposal still has a lot of hoops to go through, but Parker and the Sixers are hopeful the new facility could land a WNBA franchise.
"With this Sixers arena there, there is no one who can tell me that Philadelphia just would not have upped its position in trying, in trying to pursue a WNBA team for our great city," Parker said. "I can dream. I can hope. I can pray."