The wait is finally over for hoops fans north of the border as sources revealed on Friday that the city of Toronto would be awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in 2026.
Kilmer Sports Inc., fronted by Toronto billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, will assume control of the league’s 14th team with a launch planned for the 2026 WNBA season. The 79 year old originally initiated talks to bring a professional women’s team to the city as part of MLSE, but was ultimately turned down by other members of the board.
After a series of highly successful exhibition games in Canadian markets, hopes were high that Toronto would be on a short list of potential expansion targets for the league. However, hopes were dashed when it was revealed a few months prior that MLSE had backed out of the formal bid process.
This led to the league making an announcement that the Bay Area would be awarded the league’s 13th franchise, set to begin play in 2025. A move that crushed the dreams of many Canadian basketball fans who began to worry that their dream of seeing a professional women’s team could be slipping away.
Undeterred, Tanenbaum formed a new group, and re-engaged with the WNBA head office, eventually landing the league’s newest expansion team.
While both the WNBA and the Kilmer group have yet to confirm the deal, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow revealed in an interview Friday that she was aware that an announcement was imminent.
“Wait for it. Hopefully, there will be something later on,” Chow said. “Basketball, it’s just great and having role models, it’s time. Hopefully, there will be good news soon and I can’t wait for that to happen.”
Reports suggest that the as of yet unnamed team will play at the Coca-Cola Coliseum on the CNE Grounds in Toronto. The venue, which holds 8,000 fans, is currently home to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Despite the fact that the announcement hasn’t officially been made, a veritable who’s who of basketball luminaries weighed in on the matter.
“All I can say is I saw and I was like, ‘What a time. What a time for basketball in our entire country and for a WNBA team to be coming to Toronto and to be coming to Canada,” said Canadian Natalie Achonwa. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but what a wonderful surprise. For Larry and his group to make that investment and that commitment to continuing to grow the game in our country is amazing.”
“And I can’t wait for the little girls and little boys at home to be able to grow up and see this league firsthand. Growing up I only knew that boys played basketball. I grew up watching the Raptors. And for kids to be able to be in an arena firsthand, to see little girls and little boys to see what strong, passionate, competitive women look like firsthand is going to be amazing for the next generation.”
A formal announcement confirming the 14th WNBA franchise is expected to take place on May 23rd.
Photo: Susan Lesch. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.