Toronto expected to be WNBA's first international expansion team

By Alex Butler


Toronto is set to host the WNBA's first international franchise. File Photo by Mauritz Antin/EPA-EFE


May 10 (UPI) -- The WNBA is expected to award Toronto with an expansion team, with the new franchise set to start play in 2026. The team will be the WNBA's first franchise based outside of the United States.

Sources told CBC Sports, the Toronto Star and Sports Business Journal about the move Friday. Those reports stated that Kilmer Sports Inc., a group headed by billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, was granted the franchise. An official announcement is expected later.

The league has yet to officially announce the move, which would require a vote from the WNBA and the NBA board of governors (team owners).

"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 Friday, when asked about the reported agreement.

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The new WNBA team is expected to play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, an 8,000-seat venue used by Toronto's Professional Women's Hockey League team.

The WNBA added a 13th team, based in San Francisco, that will start play in 2025. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced in April that Toronto, Philadelphia, Portland, Denver, Nashville and South Florida were candidates to host a 14th WNBA team in 2026. She also said she hopes the league includes 16 teams within the "next few years."

Tanenbaum is a minority owner and chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which controls the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA's Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC of MLS, CFL's Toronto Argonauts and AHL's Toronto Marlies.

The WNBA, which currently consists of 12 teams, will start its regular season campaign next week. The Washington Mystics will host the New York Liberty in the first game of the campaign at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Star rookie Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will face the Connecticut Sun in the first nationally-televised game at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Uncasville, Conn. That matchup will air on ESPN2.