Before pandemic, team planned to play 2020 and 2021 at Madhouse on McDowell
Assuming WNBA games are played in team markets in 2021, the three-time WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury will return home to 201 E. Jefferson Street and the newly-renovated Phoenix Suns Arena, the team announced today. The NBA has followed-up a 2020 Bubble restart and postseason with a return to team arenas for the 2020-21 season. While the WNBA has not announced definitive plans for this season, if the league follows a similar path to the NBA, the Mercury will play in the only home arena the 25-year-old franchise has ever known.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the 2020 WNBA season being played at a single-site in Bradenton, Fla., the Mercury planned to play 2020 and 2021 home games at Phoenix’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Madhouse on McDowell, while the team’s home arena underwent a $230 million transformation. Due to an expedited construction timeline, Phoenix Suns Arena is now more than 80 percent complete and prepared to host the Mercury.
Due to COVID-19, should WNBA games return to team markets in 2021, the Mercury will work with the City of Phoenix, State and County health officials to determine the safest path toward hosting fans. The safety of players, staff and fans is the organization’s highest priority.
“We have all learned to live with a great deal of uncertainty over the last 11 months,” said Mercury Chief Operating Officer Vince Kozar. “But we do know for certain that the next time the Mercury plays games in Phoenix it will be at our home arena in downtown Phoenix, and we wanted our fans to know that. At the right time, under the safest conditions, having the X-Factor in a state-of the-art, fan-first arena will be an incredibly special – and loud – experience.”
Upon entering the arena, fans will be greeted by more than 7,000 square feet of a state-of-the art LED screens in the newly renovated pavilion, along with the biggest sports bar in Arizona and an open area for better crowd flow with a view straight into the bowl. Additionally, fans will notice the arena’s new center hung scoreboard, two new LED ribbon boards in the lower and upper bowls, all while seated in brand new cushioned seats no matter where they sit in the bowl.
For more information on the renovation, media and fans should visit www.project201.com and PhoenixMercury.com.