Jonquil Jones and the New York Liberty go up Broadway as fans cheer during the ticker-tape parade held in their honor, Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Manhattan. The Liberty won the WNBA Championship on Sunday.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Sixers, has placed a bid for an expansion franchise in the WNBA, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
Such an idea was part of the selling point for the Sixers' new arena venture with Comcast Spectacor, which was revealed earlier this month.
This bidding process would be for the WNBA's 16th team, and is expected to include Tilman Fertitta (Houston). There are various other parties who have expressed interest in bringing WNBA teams to their markets, but it's unclear whether they'd be bidding for the same expansion that HBSE would be.
Regardless, it's objectively great. It's great for fans, a collective of which has been vocal about their desire to see a WNBA team come to Philly. Here or elsewhere, it'd be awesome to grow the league across the country. Every expansion increases the league's marketability, putting stars in more cities.
From a business standpoint, it's one of the best ways to shrink the pay gap between the W and the NBA, as much as that can be done. Caitlin Clark has unimpeachably brought more eyes to the WNBA, but there's long been inequality between the two leagues.
The super max contract in the WNBA is something around $240,000. For comparison, that is a little more than 10 percent of the NBA league minimum.
There are 13 WNBA teams, which inherently makes for a shorter schedule. Expansion teams should add to the length of the season, generating more revenue for the league.
It's not a perfect science. There's a long way to go before there's a more reasonable balance in pay. But, perhaps the most obvious solution to get that ball rolling is to add more teams to the league.
Because right now, NBA players get to enjoy lavish offseasons while working on their crafts. Life's not as kind to WNBA players, who have to decide whether they want to go overseas to make extra money at the risk of catastrophic injury during their offseasons.
If HBSE gets its way, it won't be all that long before Clark, Angel Reese, Arike Ogunbowale and others are stopping in South Philly during the summer months.
Let's cover some summer hoops, gang.
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