{"id":556588,"date":"2026-01-31T15:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/556588\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T15:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:49:17","slug":"inside-the-record-crowd-at-unrivaleds-philadelphia-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/556588\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the record crowd at Unrivaled’s Philadelphia debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Along the sideline, Sabrina Ionescu<\/a> met Cloud with a long embrace. Cameras clicked as Ionescu, dressed in a green sweater, waited patiently while a young girl sprinted back to her family to grab a phone. The selfie, when it came, made the night feel complete before the ball was tipped for Unrivaled<\/a>\u2018s first-ever game in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Following shootaround, Cloud reflected on Philadelphia\u2019s basketball culture and the history that shaped the moment. She understood the opportunity existed because of those who came before her, and she did not take it lightly. While attending Philadelphia 76ers games growing up, Cloud had quietly dreamed of one day playing in the same building as her idol, Allen Iverson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had so many greats come before us that I\u2019m standing on the shoulders of now,\u201d Cloud told reporters after shootaround. \u201cAll of us are standing on the shoulders of others. When I walked onto the court today, I looked up at the rafters and had this distinct memory of coming here with my school, sitting in the suite watching the Sixers play. How crazy is it that I\u2019m about to play professionally in my hometown for the first time? That\u2019s a blessing I\u2019m really grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IX Basketball, a 24\/7\/365 women\u2019s basketball newsroom powered by The Next
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From the moment Cloud was greeted with an ear-splitting roar during team introductions, Xfinity Mobile Arena crackled with electricity. It never let up. The building throbbed during Philadelphia-native hip-hop star Lay Bankz\u2019s between-game performance, then rose again when Marina Mabrey<\/a> scored the final basket of her Unrivaled single-game record 47-point night at 11:03 p.m. Eastern time.<\/p>\n

The thunderous ovation sealed what the record crowd of 21,490 already knew: This inaugural tour stop was historic, and Philly is indeed Unrivaled. Throughout the evening, the buzz carried a homecoming feel, especially for Cloud and Kahleah Copper<\/a>, a native of North Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was awesome to see them come out and support us like that,\u201d Mabrey, a New Jersey native, told reporters postgame. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I expected, but I didn\u2019t realize it was going to be so much hype around it and so much support. \u2026 We\u2019re going to look back and say that we were the first to play in Philly when Unrivaled traveled.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also have the distinction of being part of a night like no other.<\/p>\n

Unrivaled set the all-time attendance record for a regular-season professional women\u2019s basketball game, according to the league. It surpassed the previous mark of 20,711 for a game between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19, 2024, at Capital One Arena. The game also set the attendance record for an event of any kind at Xfinity Mobile Arena, eclipsing 21,424 for a Backstreet Boys concert on Sept. 29, 1999.<\/p>\n

\"AA fan holds a poster of Natasha Cloud at Unrivaled\u2019s tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on Jan. 30, 2026. May fans brought signs with them. (Photo credit: Rob Knox | The IX Basketball)<\/p>\n

That the Phantom beat the Breeze, 71-68, and the Lunar Owls defeated Rose BC, 85-75, won\u2019t necessarily be remembered years from now. This night belonged to the fans, who enthusiastically showed up and showed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is lit,\u201d said Morgan Parish, a Philadelphia native and Emmy Award-winning Fox 29 news anchor sitting along the baseline. \u201cI mean, it just shows you how big the WNBA has become. It\u2019s sold out. Everybody\u2019s in here. The energy is good. \u2026 You walk in and it\u2019s just good vibes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never imagined a night like this in Philly for women\u2019s basketball. To be at something like this and see how big it is, I\u2019m just so grateful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia royalty from South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley<\/a> to former NBA guard Jameer Nelson<\/a> to former Little League World Series baseball\u00a0star Mo\u2019ne Davis sat close to the court. Staley sat in the front row, eating popcorn and drinking water.<\/p>\n

For Davis, who spoke to The IX Basketball on the concourse after talking with one of her middle school teachers, this night was a long time coming. Davis reflected on the significance of WNBA players\u2019 one and only stop in Philadelphia. Growing up, she never saw a women\u2019s basketball team in the city, so this moment was deeply personal and symbolic of women\u2019s sports\u2019 rising popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to see just the love that the city has for their sports teams and for the WNBA team that\u2019s going to come here [in 2030 as the league\u2019s 18th franchise],\u201d Davis said. \u201cThere are so many people here, and I just know that I\u2019m going to have a great time. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched all these players growing up. I was inspired to be just like them, seeing everything that they\u2019ve done off the court as well, just to help the game grow. I\u2019m really excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Celebrity actresses Leslie Jones and Wanda Sykes posed for plenty of selfies. Jones and Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts shared a heartfelt hug between games. Philadelphia 76er forward Andre Drummond<\/a> and guard Kyle Lowry<\/a>, along with Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jaylx Hunt, also took in the action courtside.<\/p>\n

With the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection hosting its first professional women\u2019s basketball game since the Philadelphia Rage played in the now-defunct ABL in 1998, the arena felt like a revival, a family reunion and a never-ending house party all at once. The energy moved through the building like a current, vibrating from seat to seat and row to row.<\/p>\n

\"FansA crowd of 21,490 set the all-time mark for attendance at a regular-season professional women\u2019s basketball game at Unrivaled\u2019s tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on Jan. 30, 2026. (Photo credit: Rob Knox | The IX Basketball)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an amazing environment,\u201d Aaliyah Edwards<\/a> told reporters postgame. \u201cShoutout to Unrivaled for putting this beautiful event together and giving these players, coaches and all women\u2019s basketball fans the opportunity to be a part of where women\u2019s basketball is going and moving in a great direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hunger and excitement of the crowd were on full display during media timeouts. The in-house DJ blared tracks from Philadelphia artists Eve, Meek Mill and Freeway; Sephora merchandise parachuted from the ceiling; and long merchandise lines snaked throughout the concourse.<\/p>\n

Clustered together, fans waited patiently \u2014 some for close to 30 minutes \u2014 to buy hoodies, jerseys and T-shirts from merchandise stands. One fan was sent to another vendor in search of a Paige Bueckers<\/a> jersey and found one.<\/p>\n

The line became a symbol of cultural momentum in real time: a crowd willing to stand, wait and commit just to wear the message and be a part of a monumental evening. It was proof that Unrivaled and women\u2019s basketball in Philadelphia are here to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis night has been amazing so far,\u201d Jade Boone, a content creator and editor at NFL Films, told The IX Basketball. \u201cJust seeing the energy, the crowd and how many people really care about women\u2019s basketball, it\u2019s truly unmatched. If people say they\u2019re not watching women\u2019s sports, they\u2019re lying. Visibility matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

This night mattered.<\/p>\n

Just ask Temple University head coach Diane Richardson. Her team flew to New Orleans later that night for a Saturday evening game, rearranging its travel plans to attend Unrivaled. Tulane University adjusted the game\u2019s start time to make it possible. The Owls enjoyed the event from a suite before hustling to the airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Unrivaled announced the date, we were like, \u2018That\u2019s got to change,\u2019\u201d Richardson said courtside pregame. \u201cWe asked our opponent for flexibility and told them how special this was for us because we\u2019ve literally been boots on the ground for Unrivaled. This shows that Philly is a women\u2019s sports town. The support is here. When the WNBA gets here, these seats should be full. It meant a lot for our program to experience this. Some of them couldn\u2019t even sleep Thursday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

That detail was confirmed by junior guard Kaylah Turner<\/a>, who leads the American Athletic Conference in scoring<\/a> at 17.4 points per game. For Turner and her teammates, the night carried a deeper purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little surreal being here with so many stars around,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI hope I\u2019ll play in this league one day. We\u2019re fans of these players. Rickea Jackson<\/a> is a popular one for our team. We were watching closely \u2014 how they communicate, how much they talk on defense. We took notes on things we can bring back to our own team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That sense of inspiration stretched throughout the building, reaching well beyond the college players. It followed fans into the concourse and lingered long after the final buzzer, especially for those who once imagined moments like this from afar.<\/p>\n

Among them was Chanelle Harris, the head girls\u2019 basketball coach at Penn Wood High School outside of Philadelphia. Harris played at Lincoln University from 2007 to 2010. When she played in high school, the WNBA was less than 10 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vibes are indescribable,\u201d Harris told The IX Basketball on the concourse. \u201cEverywhere you turn, you see a WNBA jersey. You see someone wearing an \u2018Everyone supports women\u2019s basketball\u2019 shirt or a UConn jersey. You couldn\u2019t have told me growing up that women\u2019s basketball would be here. It gives me chills seeing all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris paused, then smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a kid watching all my favorite players right now,\u201d she said. \u201cI wish I were in high school again so I could have all the opportunities these young girls have today. We didn\u2019t have this growing up. It\u2019s just amazing to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia was the first of what Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell believes will be a blueprint for the league moving forward. He told assembled media covering each team\u2019s shootaround earlier in the afternoon, \u201cWe will be doing more of these in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Cloud, the night was bigger and brighter than the dream she\u2019d carried into this building as a child. This time, she wasn\u2019t looking up at the rafters. She was responsible for creating something lasting, alongside a record crowd that would remember the night long after it ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city of Philadelphia came out and showed love,\u201d Rose BC head coach Nola Henry told reporters postgame. \u201cIt was sold out and a crazy environment. Just what women\u2019s basketball deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here at The IX Basketball<\/a> and The IX Sports<\/a>, our audience is a collection of the smartest, most passionate women\u2019s sports fans in the world. If your business has a mission to serve these fans, reach out to our team at BAlarie@theixsports.com<\/a> to discuss ways to work together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Along the sideline, Sabrina Ionescu met Cloud with a long embrace. Cameras clicked as Ionescu, dressed in a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":556589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[9778,5229,39569,226470,243525,42903,243526,21825,19713,243527,1448,2830,226471,1311,223508,31377,67,586,132,5230,3506,68,2969],"class_list":["post-556588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-aaliyah-edwards","tag-america","tag-attendance","tag-breeze-bc","tag-diane-richardson","tag-fan-experience","tag-lunar-owls-bc","tag-marina-mabrey","tag-natasha-cloud","tag-nola-henry","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-phantom-bc","tag-philadelphia","tag-rose-bc","tag-temple","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-unrivaled","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115990505990993065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}