On Thursday, Toronto was officially announced as the home of the WNBA’s 14th franchise, marking the league’s first team outside the United States and the second in recent expansion efforts. The team, still unnamed, will start playing in the 2026 season and is owned by Larry Tanenbaum of Kilmer Sports Ventures. Tanenbaum is also the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Raptors, Maple Leafs, and Toronto FC.
“Introducing a WNBA team to Toronto is a significant step for our league as we expand both domestically and internationally,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “With Larry Tanenbaum’s impressive history of managing successful sports franchises and Toronto’s reputation as a vibrant, diverse city passionate about basketball, we are confident that this new team will excel as a premier WNBA organization and serve as an inspiration and support for the Toronto community and all of Canada.”
The team will play at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in downtown Toronto, with additional games at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Raptors and Maple Leafs, and in Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver previously hosted the NBA’s Grizzlies before the team moved to Memphis in 2001.
During the WNBA draft in April, Engelbert expressed her goal to expand the league to 16 teams in the coming years. The Golden State Valkyries, the league’s 13th team, will begin playing in 2025. Engelbert has identified Philadelphia, Portland, Nashville, Milwaukee, and Denver as potential markets for the final two expansion spots, notably excluding Houston, despite its historical significance and large population.
