A conversation in 2019 helped spark a movement that is changing Philadelphia’s women’s sports landscape.
Philadelphia has always been a sports city.
But for years, there was a glaring hole in that identity: the city had no major professional women’s sports franchise.
In 2019, Alex Niedbalski-Sykes pointed that out to her wife, comedian and actress Wanda Sykes. The two began talking about what it would take to bring a WNBA franchise to Philadelphia.
That conversation eventually grew into something much bigger.
Along with Ashley Lunkenheimer and Starla Crandall, the women formed the Philadelphia Sisters and began working to bring professional women’s sports to the city.
The WNBA Dream
The road to Philadelphia’s WNBA franchise was not an easy one.
When the Philadelphia Sisters first explored bringing a team to the city, they were told they would need to raise $25 million just to be considered. They began putting together an investor group and eventually developed a relationship with Philadelphia businessman David Adelman.
The original effort did not result in a franchise.
But the work continued.
As the value of WNBA franchises increased and the league expanded, Adelman and the Philadelphia 76ers ownership group eventually submitted a bid for Philadelphia.
In June 2025, the WNBA officially awarded Philadelphia an expansion franchise.
The team will be owned and operated by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, with Comcast holding a minority stake, and is scheduled to begin play in the 2030 WNBA season. The franchise will play in South Philadelphia alongside the 76ers. (WNBA)
The Philadelphia Sisters worked with the 76ers ownership group during the bid process and are now helping prepare for the team’s arrival.
But they weren’t finished.
Philly’s Women’s Sports Momentum
While Philadelphia waits for the WNBA to arrive, the city has already started seeing the impact of the work surrounding it.
The Philadelphia Sisters helped bring Unrivaled, the professional 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, to Philadelphia for games earlier this year. A sold-out doubleheader at Xfinity Mobile Arena drew more than 21,000 fans, setting an attendance record for the venue and becoming the largest crowd for a regular-season women’s professional basketball game. (Forbes)
And this week, Philadelphia is hosting a WTA 125 women’s professional tennis tournament, marking the city’s first WTA event since 2005.
The tournament features nine players ranked inside the world’s top 100, including Sloane Stephens, Ashlyn Krueger and Katie Volynets. (Forbes)
Women’s lacrosse has also recently added to the region’s growing professional sports presence, with the Women’s Lacrosse League holding its inaugural championship game in Chester, Pennsylvania.
This Is Bigger Than One Team
The Philadelphia WNBA franchise won’t take the court for another four years.
But the movement behind it is already changing what professional women’s sports can look like in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Sisters’ vision extends beyond bringing one team to one city. They want Philadelphia to become a destination for women’s professional sports—and eventually hope to help other cities build similar opportunities of their own. (Forbes)
That makes the story bigger than a future WNBA expansion team.
It’s about building an ecosystem.
And Philadelphia is already starting to see it.
Sports UNIllustrated’s Take
Sometimes the biggest sports stories aren’t happening on the court yet.
Sometimes they’re being built behind the scenes.
In 2019, Wanda Sykes and Alex Niedbalski-Sykes started with a simple question:
Why doesn’t Philadelphia have a major women’s professional sports team?
Seven years later, the answer is changing.
The WNBA is coming.
Women’s professional basketball has already returned in other forms.
Professional women’s tennis is back.
And more opportunities are beginning to follow.
The Philadelphia Sisters didn’t simply wait for somebody else to make it happen.
They helped start the conversation—and kept pushing until Philadelphia started listening.
The WNBA doesn’t arrive until 2030.
But Philly’s women’s sports movement?
It’s already here.
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