76ers Owners Submitting Bid to Bring WNBA Expansion Team to Philadelphia

Amid a flurry of formal WNBA expansion bids this week, the owners of the Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly throwing their hats in the ring.

Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment has formally submitted a bid for a WNBA expansion team, the group told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Philadelphia joins Detroit, Nashville, and a variety of other cities in gunning for an expansion squad in the league. The City of Brotherly Love has never had a WNBA team, but it was briefly home to the Philadelphia Rage of the old American Basketball League in the 1990s, who played at Penn's Palestra.

Three WNBA expansion teams are set to join the league in the next two seasons: the Golden State Valkyries, the Toronto Tempo, and an unnamed Portland team.

The flurry of expansion comes amid record interest in the league, spurred in part by a celebrity-filled 2024 rookie class including Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.