Mercury will play at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2020
The Phoenix Mercury were searching for more than a place to play in 2020 and perhaps 2021 while Talking Stick Resort Arena undergoes renovations.
They wanted a home, somewhere that their loyal fan base could embrace and where a playoff-contending team could continue to benefit from one of the WNBA’s best home-court advantages.
“We’re trying for the best possible experience for our players and for our fans,” Mercury Chief Operating Officer Vince Kozar said. “To have one location, one home” preferably in Phoenix instead of another Valley city, for practices and games over four-plus months.
“It was vital to find a solution to keep basketball in the city of Phoenix,” team Vice President Ann Meyers Drysdale said.
That solution, as it turns out, was three miles away at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home of the Phoenix Suns from 1968-92 before their move to the downtown Phoenix arena, which is set to receive a $230-million facelift.
The Suns still will play at Talking Stick Resort Arena during the renovation, but major work next summer will require the move by the Mercury, who announced their plans Wednesday.
Other options were Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena, Grand Canyon’s GCU Arena and Gila River Arena in Glendale.
None of those offered as much permanency as is possible in a temporary home or the nostalgia attraction of taking professional basketball back to “The Madhouse on McDowell.”
Because of scheduling conflicts at Talking Stick Resort Arena, the Mercury played first-round playoff games at Wells Fargo Arena in 2017 and 2018, winning both.