Philadelphia Rage

American Basketball League (1997-1998)

Tombstone

Born: July 21, 1997 – The Richmond Rage relocate to Philadelphia, PA
Folded: December 22, 1998

First Game: October 17, 1997 (W 87-86 @ Columbus Quest)
Last Game: December 20, 1998 (W 77-70 vs. Columbus Quest)

ABL Championships: None

Arenas

1997-98: The Palestra (8,700)¹

1997-98: The Apollo of Temple (10,000)²

Marketing

Team Colors: Black, Red (PMS 200) & Gold (PMS 872)³

Ownership

Owner: American Basketball League

Attendance

This chart includes Philadelphia Rage attendance for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, as well as the club’s attendance in Richmond, Virginia during the 1996-97 season as a point of comparison.

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Sources:

1997-98 American Basketball League Media Guide (1996-97 Figures)
1998-99 San Jose Lasers Media Guide (1997-98 Figures)
Fun While It Lasted box score analysis of all 63 1998-99 ABL games from NewspapersArchives.com.

Background

The Philadelphia Rage were a women’s professional basketball team that operated for a season-and-a-half in the American Basketball League. The franchise started out in Virginia as the Richmond Rage during the ABL’s 1996-97 inaugural season and advanced to the 1997 ABL Championship Series, losing to the Columbus Quest.

Struggling in Philly

In July 1997 the Rage relocated to Philadelphia due to poor ticket sales and the small size of the media market in Richmond. In their first season in Philly, the Rage split their games between the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania and the brand new 10,000-seat Apollo at Temple University. Attendance in Philadelphia was notably lousy. During the 1997-98 season, Philadelphia ranked 8th out of the ABL’s 9 teams in attendance. Crowds averaged 3,238 fans for 22 home dates. For the aborted 1998-99 season, when the Rage played solely at the Apollo, attendance was far and away the weakest in the league, with only 1,495 per game showing up for six dates.

The 1997-98 Rage club was terrible on the court, despite the presence of three women’s game legends on the roster in Adrienne Goodson, Taj McWilliams and Philly native Dawn Staley. The Rage finished in last place in their division with a 13-31 record.

The End

As the 1998-99 season began, the Rage seemed poised for a re-boot. Star Dawn Staley jumped to the ABL’s much stronger rival, the Women’s National Basketball Association, during the offseason. Hall-of-Famer Anne Donovan signed on as the new coach and had the Rage off to a 9-5 start as Christmas approached. But league officials had kept the true severity of the league’s financial pressures quiet. The ABL abruptly closed its doors and on December 22, 1998 to the shock of the league’s players, fans and employees. The league filed for bankruptcy and never returned to the court.