It’s been some time since a professional women’s sports team played in Philadelphia.

We had the Charge and Independence in this region, but only for a few years. The Liberty Belles existed in two incarnations and there are some semi-pro and amateur rugby teams that are based out of suburbs. Otherwise though, outside of the college ranks, there hasn’t been much female representation in local sports. We’re relegated to pulling for the likes of  Carli Lloyd, who grew up here but doesn’t play here because there isn’t a soccer team here. Same with myriad basketball players who turned pro, like Debbie Black.

Maybe that’s about to change though, because there’s a lot of scuttlebutt about a WNBA team coming to Philadelphia, and it’s coming from Delco native Natasha Cloud, who won a title with the Mystics back in 2019.

At NBC Sports Philadelphia, Adam Hermann pulled some of her various quotes together, writing this:

A second team could be on the way, according to Delco native and WNBA star Natasha Cloud of the Washington Mystics, who said during the Girls Talk Sports TV Clubhouse panel on Wednesday night that the women’s basketball league has been working for close to a year on putting a team in Philly.

Reports of Cloud’s comments surfaced on social media on Wednesday night, and were widely shared on Twitter by Thursday morning.

Khristina Williams, the founder of Girls Talk Sports TV, confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia that Cloud did indeed say that the WNBA has been working on putting a team in Philly.

Adam also has in there another Cloud quote, in which she says this has been in the works for a year and a half.

So you tell me – WNBA in Philadelphia?

It makes a lot of sense. Obviously we’re still a top-five television market. We have a rich basketball history and numerous area natives that could have been playing here, if that team existed. Cloud had to play in Washington with Elena Delle Donne, and when Dawn Staley went pro, she ended up in Charlotte.

There are numerous arenas to use. Wells Fargo Center. Liacouras Center. Palestra? The Blue Coats facility down in Wilmington? Finding the team a home wouldn’t be a problem.

And the WNBA did pretty well during COVID. ESPN put more games on television. The finals ratings were actually up and the league is successfully branching out to digital platforms as well. It’s carved out a relatively stable niche in the saturated American sporting environment, and looks to be on steady footing.

I do think a franchise here would stay afloat, with committed owners who make the team a priority instead of some side project. I wouldn’t expect WNBA talk to dominate the sports radio air waves, especially when you consider the fact that the Flyers barely even get talked about and the Union are a blip on the radar. If, however, we’re talking about a WNBA team in a basketball city that is now more attached to the Sixers than it used to be, then it seems like expansion into the Philadelphia market would be a no-brainer for Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, and company.