Fran Harris knows the city of Austin well. It's where she spent most of her adult life and where she won an NCAA championship as a basketball star at the University of Texas.
Now, the celebrated athlete and entrepreneur is hoping this up-and-coming Texas city will be his next. WNBA Expanded franchise.
“Austin has long had a strong reputation for women in sports,” Hall said in an exclusive interview with SB Nation. “We have always been a thought leader when it comes to supporting women’s sports.”
So Harris spent the last few years rallying the community and preparing for a WNBA expansion bid in Austin. The bid is underway, and as a result, Austin has emerged as one of more than a dozen cities vying for WNBA expansion.
“When I decided to pursue expansion, my first thought was, 'I have to get my city ready,'” Harris said. “I didn't think, 'Hey, let's call Kathy.' [Engelbert]”…Actually, I thought I had to get Austin ready. I need to see if Austin is as excited about this as I am.”
Once she entered the community, she loved what she learned. There was energy and enthusiasm. Austin has only one professional sports team – Austin FC, a men's professional soccer club – so the WNBA team does not have to compete with many other professional sports teams. There are also several venues in Austin that are expected to get new arenas.
And she made sure the city has the same energy she remembers from her playing days, when 8,000 to 10,000 fans flooded the stands to watch University of Texas women's basketball games throughout the 1980s.
So she chose to proceed with the bid, confident that Austin would prioritize the franchise, which was not always the case in the WNBA.
“I think there's a situation going on in some cities right now. I don't want to name names, but most people are aware that in some cities, evictions are happening, WNBA teams are being evicted, other cities are being evicted. “We know we're going to have to play somewhere. And that's something the league wants to avoid,” Harris said.
Why Fran Harris is the right person to own the WNBA
Fran Harris has an unusual background and a wealth of first-hand experience in the WNBA. She has enjoyed an illustrious career as both a basketball player and a successful entrepreneur, a combination that could lead to her joining an exclusive company for franchise ownership.
Harris famously led the University of Texas at Austin to the NCAA Championship in 1986. That season – the first undefeated season in women's NCAA basketball history – she averaged 13.8 points per game.
She briefly headed overseas at the end of her college career, playing in Italy and Switzerland. She then returned to basketball with the launch of the WNBA and was one of the original members of the 1997 Houston Comets, which won the league's first championship.
Harris believes his experience as a former player puts him in a unique position as an effective owner.
“I lived This,” she said.
Since retiring from the WNBA, Harris has worked as a television anchor and host. tv show Redesigning the interiors of people's homes, fitness showestablished, Electrolytic drink specifically for womenamong its various initiatives across sports and entertainment. She has called Dallas Wings games for years, including this past WNBA season.
Photo by Brian Bedder/Sportico, via Getty Images
“This season has been magical for many reasons,” Harris said. “I feel happy to be here, to witness and truly celebrate the growth of our game. This is a very special time in the evolution of our sport.”
When Harris speaks with investors, she often recalls how unique her first-hand experience with women's basketball and the WNBA is. There are dozens of high-profile candidates to own the WNBA, but few have the first-hand knowledge or first-hand experience that Harris has.
“When we have conversations about why, austinand why myself When you lead an effort like this, it actually happens,” she said. “Because when you own a sports team and you have a lot of money, you don't have a lot of expertise about what the players are going through, what they want, what their expectations are. Because I think there are things that people can say, too: what the fans want, what the fans love.
And Harris believes his experience in marketing, along with his tenure as a basketball player, will help ensure Austin's WNBA team succeeds beyond the initial excitement and buzz.
She attributes the lack of excitement surrounding the WNBA in the 2000s to a lack of marketing, noting that the league didn't have a marketing department in its early days.
“To market your product, you need to know what your product is,” Harris says. “You have to know who your core audience is and talk to them. That's it. The league hasn't been very good at marketing what they have.”
However, Harris has had a very successful career in the field of marketing. she Appeared on Shark Tank. She has successfully promoted countless television shows and products.
Now, she hopes to leverage her diverse background to ensure future success for the WNBA franchise.
“I'm an entrepreneur. I started my first business when I was 9 years old,” Harris said. “Again, I'm not shy about spreading the gospel in whatever it is that I'm doing. That's how we approach it in Austin.”
Other cities with potential for WNBA expansion
Harris is hopeful that Austin can separate himself from the pack.
But she also knows the bid for the 16th WNBA is incredibly competitive.
The WNBA will consist of 12 teams in the 2024 season, with three more teams expected to join in the next two seasons, the Golden State Valkyries in 2025, and Toronto and Portland in 2026. The league is vying for an even 16th team. Planning has begun by 2027, with more than a dozen suitors reportedly already interested, including in Miami, Milwaukee, Denver, St. Louis, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Hornets player Grant Williams has said he wants to bring his team to Charlotte. celtics Star Jayson Tatum is rumored to be a possible quarterback for the St. Louis team and the Chiefs. patrick mahomes He hopes to bring a team to Kansas City. These are just a few of the featured athletes associated with future WNBA expansion cities.
And while it's certainly possible that the league could expand beyond 16 teams in the future, 16 teams seems to be the limit for now.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has stated multiple times that the goal is to add a 16th team by 2026 or 2027, although nothing is guaranteed at this time. There are no final bids scheduled at this time.
Fran Harris wants the team to be in Austin. And she's confident she can help cultivate a strong fan base in the city she's called home for years.
“My goal for the Austin franchise is to create loyal fans… fans who feel like they're part of the fabric of what we're building in this community, who don't have to go to church, who don't have to go to games. “I don't know if I'm going to go to church on Sunday,” Harris said. “That's the kind of fan I'm looking for.”
