WNBA announces Toronto expansion team for 2026 season

Throughout the years, the talk of a WNBA expansion has continued; Toronto always was a city mentioned among the favorite cities to land a team. Canadian fans have shown up.

The WNBA has played a preseason game in Canada during the past two seasons. In 2023, it was a sold-out crowd of 19,923, while last week's game saw 16,655 fans.

The dream for Canada is now becoming a reality. It was announced Friday that Toronto will be awarded a WNBA expansion franchise. The team will begin play in the 2026 WNBA season.

WNBA finally expands into Canada with Toronto franchise

This will be the WNBA's 14th team, following the Golden State franchise, which will enter the league in 2025. But this is the first professional WNBA franchise in Canada, and it will do nothing but help grow the sport throughout the country.

Kilmer Sports Inc., led by Larry Tanenbaum, will be the owner. Tanenbaum is the same person who helped bring the NBA's Raptors to the city and is also the chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which owns other teams in Toronto.

The new team will not play at Scotiabank Arena but at Coca-Cola Coliseum, an 8,000-seat arena that is also the home of the Toronto women's hockey team.

An official announcement for the Toronto team is expected on May 23. According to ESPN, league sources said that no official vote on a Toronto expansion franchise has been held.

"We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets and the granting of any expansion teams requires a vote of the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors," a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement.

But while the league continues to look to expand after its boom in the past year, there are also talks for a new team in Portland.

League commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the goal was to reach 16 teams by 2028, and so far, that is looking likely.