For Washington Mystics fans, this is actually anxious news, considering that Harris owns the Washington Commanders, and Philadelphia is relatively close to Washington.
It is the year 2025. And the WNBA is the league that many cities want. Noa Dalzell of SBNation.com and CelticsBlog wrote an article about multiple cities ranging from Austin to Nashville and Charlotte and Philadelphia wanting the 16th WNBA team.
Of the many cities that want a team, Philadelphia’s bid for the WNBA gives Washington Mystics fans cause to pause.
First, the Philadelphia market would be the closest to Washington. The cities are a 2.5 to 3 hour drive away from each other.
But more importantly, the Philadelphia bid is being spearheaded by Josh Harris, the owner of the 76ers NBA team. Locally, he’s better known as the majority owner of the Washington Commanders NFL team.
Harris has already put in a bid for a Philadelphia team, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The WNBA team would play in a new arena Harris and the city of Philadelphia plan to build for the Sixers as well, if everything goes through, according to various reports, including by Hayden Mitman of WCAU-TV.
I have seen some chatter on various forums online that this is a concern. Why could it be?
If the Mystics continue to play at Entertainment and Sports Arena while most other (and every expansion WNBA team) plays in an NBA/NHL size facility, that is going to make the WNBA brass unhappy in this era of growth. Players may not want to play for Washington or think that the city isn’t serious about improving the WNBA. And the league could think that way as well.
I don’t fault Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports & Entertainment for the Mystics’ predicament. They tried to move the Mystics to Capital One Arena full-time. However, a potential Washington Wizards and Capitals arena didn’t come through in Potomac Yard. Throughout the years, Leonsis and Monumental have been quite forward thinking with new media and the WNBA in particular. Leonsis has said repeatedly that the WNBA will be a hot commodity a decade ago. That growth is happening now.
So what could happen if a Philadelphia WNBA team comes to be? First, it gives Harris, who is quite popular in Washington because he owns the Commanders a reason why at least some people in the DMV should support his team instead of the local one.
And more importantly, the prospect of a Philadelphia WNBA team gives the league leverage on Washington with their arena situation long term. If Philadelphia gets an expansion team, Washington would be under more pressure to move the Mystics to a new arena full-time (or maybe Capital One Arena).
But even if Philly doesn’t get the expansion team, if the Mystics still don’t find a new place to play long term, it wouldn’t be out of question to see the league make an example out of them. So though this is almost definitely not happening, I can understand why some Mystics fans believe the team they have supported for so long could be the WNBA’s Seattle SuperSonics. You can figure out what that means.
Again, the Mystics’ situation isn’t Monumental Sports’ fault, at least not entirely. But with Harris and the 76ers ownership group looking to get into the WNBA themselves, this does give Mystics fans cause to pause.
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