Can Pittsburgh host pro basketball team? Sports authority to pay up to $90K to find out

Allegheny County sports officials are exploring whether Pittsburgh could be home once again to a professional basketball team.

The Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County voted unanimously on Feb. 8 to enter into an agreement with Colorado-based sports consulting firm CAA ICON to conduct a feasibility study on whether Pittsburgh can support an NBA or WNBA franchise.

The authority agreed to pay CAA ICON up to $90,000 for the study.

The WNBA last year announced an expansion team in San Francisco, and the league might be looking at other expansion cities as well. The NBA has also hinted at adding more teams, with Las Vegas and Seattle as front-runners.

Pittsburgh has not hosted a professional basketball team since the 1960s.

The Pittsburgh Pipers of the American Basketball Association were formed in 1967, and won the league championship in their inaugural season. The Pipers, who later changed their name to the Pittsburgh Condors, played at the Civic Arena from 1967 to 1968 and 1969–1972.

The ABA canceled the franchise in 1972 after failing to find a bigger market to host the team.

A minor league team, the Pittsburgh Piranhas, played at the Duquesne University’s A.J. Palumbo Center for a season starting in 1994 in the Continental Basketball Association. The team folded in 1995.

Pittsburgh is also looking at the possibility of a professional women’s hockey team. The Pittsburgh Penguins have expressed interest in hosting a team in Pittsburgh with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which launched in 2023 in six North American cities.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League is staging a game between teams based in Montreal and Toronto at PPG Paints Arena on March 17.

This story was updated Feb. 12 to correct the home court of the Pittsburgh Piranhas.