The three-time WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury today announced special guest Adam Rippon will join the team’s celebration of PRIDE Night, brought to you by Coors Light, on Saturday, June 16 during their matchup with the Connecticut Sun at Talking Stick Resort Arena at 7 p.m. Rippon, who became a cultural lightning rod during the 2018 Winter Olympics, will participate in a halftime Q&A at center court for all fans in attendance.
“Our celebration of PRIDE, diversity and inclusion gets bigger every year,” said Mercury COO Vince Kozar. “To be able to host someone of Adam’s stature, with everything he has represented for the LGBT community over the last six months, is something I know our fans, players and the larger Phoenix community will be thrilled about.”
Rippon, who won a bronze medal with Team USA as part of the figure skating team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, is a tireless advocate for the LGBT community and made history as the first openly gay U.S. American male figure skater to compete in the Olympic Games. He recently received the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Visibility Award, was honored by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
Rippon, who has more than 800,000 followers on Instagram and more than 500,000 on Twitter, has done the talk show circuit from CNN to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to Ellen, and just Monday was the winner of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: Athletes.
Talking Stick Resort Arena will have a very PRIDEful feel on June 16, as 10,000 double-sided fan placards will be placed strategically to stripe the arena’s lower seating bowl as a rainbow and a number of local LGBT organizations will participate in a pregame expo in the Casino Arizona Pavilion.
Fans will be treated to a number of exciting activations throughout the night, including the team’s “Be Heard For PRIDE” video series featuring Mercury players discussion the celebration’s importance. Mercury mascot Scorch and the Hip Hop Squad will be dressed for PRIDE, and all fans are encouraged to attend the Coors Light Postgame Party in the COURTyard sponsored by Verizon. Many more details to come!
WNBA all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi and 2017 WNBA scoring champion Brittney Griner return to Phoenix this summer to lead the Mercury in a quest for the franchise’s WNBA-record tying fourth championship. Tickets to PRIDE Night brought to you by Coors Light on Saturday, June 16 and the rest of the Mercury’s 2018 home games are available online at PhoenixMercury.com or by phone at 602-252-WNBA.