Toronto will reportedly receive a WNBA expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026, according to CBC’s Shireen Ahmed.
The franchise will be owned by Kilmer Sports Inc., run by billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, who helped bring the NBA’s Raptors to the city and is president of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, owner of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. FC of the MLS, the Argos and Marlies of the AHL.
An official announcement is expected on May 23.
Toronto will be the 14th WNBA team after the Golden State franchise that will enter the league in 2025.
By CBC, the new Toronto team would not play at Scotiabank Arena. Instead, they will start at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, an 8,000-seat stadium that is home to the Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ top minor league team, and is owned by MLSE.
Toronto has long been an expansion target
As talk of WNBA expansion continued, Toronto has always been a city mentioned among the favorites to land a team, and Canadian fans have shown up.
The WNBA has played a preseason game in Canada in each of the last two seasons. In 2023, the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx played in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,923 fans at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Last week, the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm saw 16,655 people fill Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Adding the first professional WNBA franchise in Canada would only help the growth of the sport in the country, as Michael Bartlett, president of Basketball Canada, said. he told CBC in March.
“Two specific things would help strengthen women’s basketball in Canada,” Bartlett said. “A women’s national league and then a professional WNBA team that would have the same lightning rod effect as the Raptors.”
