A New Era For Canadian Basketball: Toronto’s Prospective WNBA Team

Photo Credit: Nav Rahi/CBC

Set to begin playing in the 2026 season, the newest team in the WNBA will be based out of Toronto. The franchise was announced on May 23, at a star-studded press release attended by Drake, Toronto’s mayor Olivia Chow, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This will be the 14th WNBA team in the league, and the first one from outside of the United States.

The franchise was awarded to Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum, through his sports holding company, Kilmer Sports Ventures, who bought the rights to the team for $150 million USD. Tanenbaum is also the chair of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Raptors, the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, and Toronto FC. 

While the new basketball team remains nameless for now, Tanenbaum told the Associated Press that the organization will “solicit public opinion.” According to the BBC, current names that have been floated online include the “Toronto Dragons” and “Toronto Aurora”. 

The team is expected to play at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum. They will also host some home games at nearby Scotiabank Arena, and will practice at a newly built facility in the city, according to the press release. Tanenbaum revealed during the press conference that games will also be played in Vancouver and Montreal throughout the season. The home base, however, will always remain in Toronto. 

“Bringing a WNBA team to Toronto represents an important milestone for our league as we continue to expand both domestically and outside the United States,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a statement. “With Larry Tanenbaum’s distinguished record of leading successful sports franchises and Toronto’s appeal as a dynamic, diverse city that cares deeply about the game of basketball, we are confident that this new team will thrive as a first-class WNBA organization and become a great source of inspiration and support for the Toronto-area community and across Canada.”

Political figures also shared their excitement about the introduction of the WNBA to Toronto. “The WNBA will be a fantastic addition to Ontario’s dynamic sports landscape, helping to increase tourism and inspire more women and girls to get involved in basketball,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “I can’t wait to cheer on Ontario’s newest home team!”

Teresa Rech was announced as the team’s new president. She worked previously for the Toronto Raptors organization as the vice-president of basketball operations and player development. She also helped launch the Mississauga Raptors 905, the NBA G-League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors. With the announcement of her official role, this new WNBA team has been cemented as not only a concept, but a tangible business opportunity. 

The city of Toronto actually marked its first WNBA milestone last May, when the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx faced off in a preseason game at Scotiabank Arena. The game set records for attendance, with 19,923 fans in the building, the most ever at a WNBA preseason game. A whopping 98 per cent of in-arena merchandise was sold during the game, and there was a 506 per cent increase in WNBA merch sold in Canada compared to the same week in 2022. 

Professional women’s basketball players from Canada were also excited about the new opportunity that the team brings to the city and girls across the country. “Basketball belongs in Canada, belongs in Toronto,” three-time Olympian Natalie Achonwa told the CBC in a sitdown interview with Ariel Helwani. “[...] It's not just in Toronto, it’s within women’s basketball as a whole. We see some expansion now with the WNBA, but there needs to be more. When I say that I don’t just limit that to expansion of teams, I mean expansion of the game, maybe something like a Canadian women's pro-league, and expansion of merch.”

Achonwa, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, cheered on her team from the sidelines at the game in Toronto because she had recently given birth to her first child. However, even just attending the game was an emotional experience that further certified her belief in the appetite for a WNBA franchise in Canada. “When the anthem played I started tearing up,” she said. 

WNBA Commissioner Engelbert shared during the May 23 press conference that she was inspired by the overwhelmingly positive reaction of fans when the 2023 preseason game was hosted in Toronto. “I'll never forget last year at Scotiabank Arena when I attended our Toronto game and lots of people came up to me and said ‘thank you for making my dreams come true,’ by bringing a WNBA game here,” said Engelbert to CBC. “That's when I knew this was the right place.”