WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has stated on numerous occasions that her goal is to get to the W to 16 teams by 2028.
With the Golden State Valkyries debuting this coming season plus the Toronto Tempo and the still-unnamed Portland franchise joining the fray in 2026, it appears to be a shoo-in that Engelbert will reach her goal.
The only question is where that 16th team will be.
Over the past few days, there appears to be plenty of news relating to where the 16th franchise will be.
Per the Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner, Houston Rockets boss Tilman Fertitta expressed his desire to return the W to one of its founding cities. That statement mentions how the four Houston Comets championship banners and retired numbers at the rafters of Toyota Center.
It has been mentioned for a while that Fertitta is in active talks with the WNBA about a new franchise for Houston.
Then – news from another would-be WNBA suitor may have completely upended the process.
It has been well-mentioned within Philadelphia circles that the NBA’s 76ers – under the stewardship of Josh Harris – are looking to build a new arena. There was an effort by New Jersey to bring the Sixers across the Delaware River to Camden. Most recently, Center City has been mentioned as a possible site for a new arena.
The developments took a drastic turn as it was recently revealed (via Kevin Kinkead at Crossing Broad) that the Sixers intend to stay in South Philly and build a new stadium in that area in tandem with Comcast Spectacor. Said arena has a target opening date for 2031. It has been reported that a reason for why the Sixers are doing the about face is that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro mentioned that there was not the support needed in Harrisburg for state funding for the Center City arena.
A bit of a background – the major sports franchises in Philadelphia are all within a hop, skip and jump from each other in the same area of South Philly. These include Lincoln Financial Field – home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Citizens Bank Park – home of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Wells Fargo Center – home of the Sixers and Philadelphia Flyers.
Comcast Spector is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast that owns both the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center.
But while that was the main headline of interest to locals in and around the City of Brotherly Love, a lede was buried.
Reports out of Philadelphia have also indicated that the Sixers intend to bid to bring a WNBA franchise to the area. In addition, Comcast will have a minority stake in the franchise.
That last detail ought to send alarm bells in the offices of any other prospective owners who are looking to spearhead efforts to bring the WNBA to their respective cities.
Why is Comcast significant? Because it is about to become a very prominent name in WNBA business affairs. Remember that the NBA will soon begin a new media rights arrangement beginning with the 2025-26 season that includes NBC/Peacock as well as Amazon Prime Video coming on board.
Comcast is the parent company of NBC and Peacock. An element of that deal happens to involve the WNBA where NBC and Peacock will air games starting with the 2026 season. Also – the first year of that arrangement will see the Comcast-owned outlets assume the rights to the 2026 WNBA Finals. NBC and Peacock will also have rights to the Finals in 2030 and 2034.
Sixers owner Josh Harris had to know that his stiffest competition for that 16th and final (for now) team had to be Fertitta in Houston. Harris had to also know that Fertitta can match him dollar for dollar. According to Forbes, Fertitta is worth $10.1 billion. Harris is worth $10.7 billion. Both of them sleep in the $50 million they would have to pay the WNBA’s way for an expansion franchise.
In addition, Harris may have been a bit limited in how much he could invest because some of his money could be tied up in moving the Washington Commanders to the RFK Stadium site after the federal government sold that land.
Harris’ move to bring in Comcast appears to be a checkmate move to neutralize Fertitta’s money. It helps that Comcast’s ancestral home is in Harris’ backyard and that Comcast wants to get a really strong return on investment for the NBC-Peacock deal with the WNBA.
There are few better ways an entity can get a return on investment than by joining forces with a deep-pocketed individual like Harris to bring a team to said ancestral backyard.
To many WNBA fans, overlooking Fertitta’s questionable politics to bring back the Houston Comets (and improve the W’s presence south of the Mason-Dixon Line) may make sense. But to those within WNBA boardrooms, ensuring an incoming media partner gets its money’s worth could make dollars – and cents.
