Unrivaled women's basketball league to play 2 games in Philadelphia in 2026
Add professional women's basketball to the crowded schedule of sporting events planned for Philadelphia in 2026.
Unrivaled, a professional women's basketball league, will play two games at Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia in January, organizers and city leaders announced on Thursday at LOVE Park.
The back-to-back games on Jan. 30 will mark the first women's professional basketball games in the city since 1998.
In Unrivaled, founded by WNBA players Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, eight teams of top players compete in 3-on-3 games. The league, which launched in January 2025, recently announced a partnership with Xfinity.
"This is a city built on basketball," Luke Cooper, the president of basketball operations of Unrivaled, said. "Philly has a crazy history with the game."
"Our mission is to continue pushing women's basketball forward both in how we pay players and how we treat them," he added.
The games will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and air on TNT, truTV and HBO Max, according to a press release from Unrivaled. Tickets are available now from Ticketmaster and the arena website.
Mayor Cherelle Parker and The Philadelphia Sisters — an organization founded by comedian Wanda Sykes, Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes and others that advocates for women's sports — worked to bring the league to Philadelphia, the press release says. Sykes is an investor in Unrivaled and also pushed for the WNBA to expand to Philadelphia.
"Advancing women's pro sports in Philly has been a goal we've passionately pursued for years, and this initiative represents the perfect alignment of purpose and passion," Sykes said in the press release. "Unrivaled, this groundbreaking league, is set to elevate the women's basketball ecosystem as a whole, and we are honored that Philly has been chosen as its first-ever tour stop."
The second Unrivaled season tips off Jan. 5 in Miami.
The league gives top WNBA players — like Philly's own Natasha Cloud, who played at Cardinal O'Hara and St. Joseph's University — a chance to stay competitive at home in the offseason without having to go overseas.
"I'm so ecstatic that we're coming back home to Philly," said Cloud, who plays for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. "I haven't played in Philly since I was at St. Joe's, so at 33 to be able to come back home play in front of my family who's still in Delco and in front of so many fans that love the sport. We're the best sports city in the entire world. I truly believe that."
For fans like the Smith family, it will be a chance for their 10-year-old daughter, London, to watch professionals play the game.
"They will be role models for the young women that are up and coming," London's mother said.
Enthusiasm for women's basketball is growing in Philadelphia after the announcement that the city will get a WNBA team in 2030. Marsha's, a queer women's sports bar, recently opened on South Street, and another is in the works. Delaware native Aubrey Plaza was spotted at a WNBA game in August wearing a shirt that said "Philly is a women's sports town."
The Unrivaled games join a packed slate of professional sporting events planned for the Delaware Valley in 2026, including the MLB All-Star Game, World Cup matches, men's March Madness games, the PGA Championship and the return of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic. Meanwhile, Philly will also host countless events celebrating the country's 250th anniversary throughout the year.