How Fran Harris is driving Austin’s WNBA dreams

Picture this: the Moody Center is packed with passionate basketball fans, a gleaming court is at its heart, and Austin’s own professional female athletes are going head-to-head with some of the top teams in the nation.

This vision isn’t just a fantasy — it’s Fran Harris’ dream, and she’s been chasing it for nearly three decades. That dream could soon become a reality as the WNBA gears up to select a city for the league’s 16th expansion team.

Harris is a local icon in Austin, known for putting Texas Longhorns women’s basketball on the map. In 1986, she led the team to an undefeated 34-0 season and their first NCAA National Championship.

However, her impact extends far beyond college hoops. Harris played on the WNBA’s inaugural championship team with the Houston Comets in 1997, and later took her talents courtside as a broadcaster for the Dallas Wings.

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Sportico

Today, she’s a successful businesswoman, Shark Tank alum, and the driving force behind Austin’s bid to join the WNBA. We sat down with Harris to discuss her journey and why she believes Austin is the perfect home for the league’s next expansion team.

What sparked your idea to bring a WNBA team to Austin?

Harris: “I initially had the thought of ownership on the first day of the first season of the WNBA existence. … I remember walking out of the tunnel and then just seeing all these 16,000 fans there. … I was stretching, and I was like ‘whoa.’ I was just looking around the arena, and then I was like, ‘One day, I’m not gonna just be the product on the floor. One day, I’m gonna put an ownership group together and be a part of an ownership group for the WNBA.’

“In 2022, Cathy Englebert called me after seeing me on Shark Tank pitching an electrolyte drink, Electra, and said ‘Hey, I’m putting together an accelerator, an advisory group of people to talk about the next 25 years of the WNBA.’ … After that was over, I said, ‘I’m ready to start exploring the idea of bringing ownership to Austin.’ She introduced me to the legal team, because at that time, that’s who handled the expansion process.”

At least a dozen cities are making a bid. What makes Austin stand out?

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Sportico

Harris: “Austin has a built-in audience that’s already watching women’s basketball. Yes, these other cities are going to have to create that, and obviously they can. We know that it’s possible but if you’re asking me, what is Austin’s edge? We already have an audience. People are going to see the University of Texas play basketball right now — their men’s and women’s teams.

[Those fans will] jump start us, then we’re going to galvanize all these other people who don’t know, don’t care about the University of Texas. … It’s about creating our own team. This is the opportunity that hoop fans in Austin get to do together.”

How confident are you that Austin will win the bid?

Harris: “Austin being awarded a team is more likely a ‘when’ than an ‘if.’ … I believe Austin is the most ‘W-ready’ city right now, so for me, we should be the 16th team.

Someone has asked me, ‘Will you have the money?’ I’m like, ‘We’re making a bid, and that tells you that [we] have the money. I think people wonder why I’m not revealing who our investors are. A lot of that has to do with privacy and diligence.”

How has your WNBA experience shaped your vision for a potential Austin franchise?

Harris: “I’ve seen it as a player when it started. I’ve seen it limp along in those teen years, and I’ve seen the resurgence, and I’ve been here for every single minute of it. There’s not a moment of the WNBA that I haven’t either been an active participant as a player or a broadcaster, [and] in some cases, as consulting and working with players or just a spectator watching.

So, when I look at what the W is — what it can be — it’s exciting to think that we’re still very young in our existence. … Now, we get to create something of a legacy for the players who will be here when we’re not here.”