Diana Taurasi, Josh Bartelstein speak on Mercury hosting 2024 WNBA All-Star Game

On Saturday, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the Phoenix Mercury will host the 2024 WNBA All-Star game.

“With Phoenix being one of our original franchises, now under new ownership, they are very excited,” Engelbert told ESPN’s M.A. Voepel. “The city is also hosting a women’s Final Four coming up [2026], and I think they want to be a center of basketball. So the Mercury were very interested in having All-Star.”

Less than 48 hours later in front of a packed X-Factor crowd, the anticipation began. Fans poured in to hear the formal announcement. The Mercury had their CEO Josh Bartelstein, President and CEO of Downtown Phoenix Inc. Devney Majerle, and Mercury guard Diana Taurasi all speak on the news.

Bartelstein started first on the podium. He shared a story of how his first meeting with owner Mat Ishbia was about getting the WNBA All-Star game to Phoenix. Now, that wish is a reality. Mercury president Vince Kozar shared some insight to Bartelstein about what the All-Star game is about.

“The All-Star game has turned so much more to a game and Vince [Kozar] tells me this all the time,” Bartelstein said. “It’s not about the game. It’s about the entire weekend. It’s a celebration of these amazing women athletes. It’s a celebration of what the W has become. It’s a celebration of the private public and what it will mean to businesses.”

Phoenix has hosted the All-Star game two times prior, in 2000 and 2014 respectively. Taurasi remembers watching the Mercury as a child. She credits Mercury owner Mat Ishbia for wanting an All-Star game back in the Valley.

“To fast-forward 10 years for this game to be back in this city, it speaks volumes to Mat and our organization that put everything forward for this city,” Taurasi said.

Majerle has been the President and CEO of Downtown Phoenix Inc. since 2019. She’s been a part of huge events for Arizona, including the 2023 Super Bowl. Majerle understands what an event like this can do for the state in the long run.

“We know that Phoenix is the place to be,” Majerle said. “I mean, we’ve had the greatest of all time choosing to play her entire career for the Phoenix Mercury. And in this community, it really speaks volumes about an organization in the community. The world gets to see Phoenix every time we host a regional event. There’s no larger billboard, no louder megaphone for a city than a mega event. We absolutely have residents moving here, companies choosing to locate and expand here because of these mega events.”

The festivities in Sin City were certainly electric. WNBA live was present for a second straight year, the annual 3-Point Contest, Skills Challenge and many more. Attendance for WNBA games up by 27 percent, according to NBA.com.

Kozar mentioned to reporters how Ishbia attended the game in Las Vegas to understand the impact of the WNBA All-Star game. The Mercury team president described how Phoenix can one-up Las Vegas next year.

“Las Vegas has done a tremendous job and the WNBA, also the weekend has grown so much,” Kozar said. “I think the challenge for us is Mat has really high standards and that’s a great thing. So he was in Vegas and he got to see everything that was there and we talked about it throughout the weekend. What do we like and we want to do better and what do we want to bring to the table that’s never been done before?

“So all those ideas are on the table. We took about 15 staff members with us to see everything and do everything. So that’s the great opportunity for us. And we have leadership in Josh, Mat, mine and our executive team here who is willing to invest what it takes to do that. It’s not just a stage for us, it’s a stage for the whole league.”

Not only will Phoenix host the 2024 WNBA All-Star game, but they’re hosting another mega-event as well. The NCAA Women’s Final Four is headed to the Valley of the Sun in 2026. While the increase in sporting events might have some thinking it’s a coincidence, it’s not. As Taurasi explained, the city is why events like the All-Star game are coming to Phoenix.

“At the end of the day, it’s for this city,” Taurasi said. “It’s for how much this city loves basketball. This community is so tight-knit. We’re a big city but it has a small hometown feel. That’s why it’s been home for me and my family now for 19 years. We have everything the big cities have, but we have heart, and that’s what sets it apart.”