The NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury revealed plans Thursday for a new $100 million-plus project that will serve as a practice facility for the WNBA club and team business headquarters for both basketball teams. The 123,000-square-foot development will be located three blocks from the Footprint Center in Phoenix’s Warehouse District, where both teams play their home games.
“We want to be the best franchises in sports in WNBA and NBA,” Mat Ishbia, the Suns and Mercury owner, said in a phone interview. “You can say that, and it sounds good, but you actually have to start doing the work, and this is us doing the work.”
The new campus will include a 58,000-square-foot practice facility for the Mercury with 24/7 player and coach access, two dedicated courts, a fitness room, a player lounge, film room and an expansive locker room. It will also include a dedicated kitchen and chef. In addition to office space, the new headquarters will feature a series of amenities, including indoor and outdoor basketball courts, an arcade, a pickleball court and a putting green.
The Suns and Mercury currently share a practice facility that opened in 2020.
The campus, which is targeted to open in the second half of 2024, will have a store where fans can buy Suns and Mercury team merchandise, but Ishbia said monetizing the new asset is not the goal. “If you invest in people, you take care of people, you treat people well, you know what happens, they treat the business well, they treat the fans well, they do great things, and we win,” Ishbia said. “The only way to monetize anything is to be successful. Do the right thing for people and money always follows success, not the other way around.”
The development will free up 50,000 square feet of space at the Footprint Center, which currently houses the staff of the two teams in addition to hosting their games. That space will be reconfigured to improve the fan experience, per Ishbia.
“You are getting a WNBA practice facility that is just like an NBA facility, and we will continue to make investments so that the Suns and Mercury are on the same pedestal,” Josh Bartelstein, CEO of the teams, said. The Mercury are hosting the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, and Ishbia says to expect the league’s best All-Star Game ever, and it “won’t even be close.” He says the game will much more resemble an NBA All-Star experience versus past WNBA iterations.
The new Mercury practice facility arrives during a wave of investment in women’s sports in the U.S. The WNBA announced today that a new expansion franchise is coming to San Francisco, the first new club since 2008. This spring, the Las Vegas Aces opened the first practice facility constructed for a WNBA team, and the Seattle Storm broke ground on their new practice space. In the NWSL, the Kanas City Current are set to open next year the first stadium specifically built for an NWSL team, while expansion fees have surged from $2 million to $53 million over two years in that league.
“The investment that we’re making, and other teams are going start making into the WNBA is only going to catapult the growth and success,” Ishbia said. “So, where the WNBA is today versus in 10 years, it’s going to be lightyears ahead.”
In February, Ishbia and his brother, Justin, completed the purchase of a majority stake in the clubs at a record $4 billion valuation. He has made several major moves since then, including on-court trades for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, as well as shifted games from Bally Sports Arizona to a free-TV broadcast deal with Gray Television. The Suns and Denver Nuggets are the overwhelming betting favorites to win the Western Conference this season. Ishbia said he has people looking to make minority investments in the teams at a “much higher” valuation than what he paid.
The WNBA Finals tip off Sunday between a pair of superteams in the Aces and New York Liberty. The Mercury have won three WNBA titles—only the Lynx and Storm have more among the league’s 12 current teams—but the team finished with the league’s worst record this season at 9-31. The upside: the team will likely have a shot at one of the marquee college basketball talents, including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, if they declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft.
