Larry Tanenbaum working to bring a WNBA team to Toronto (UPD: awaited expansion team in 2026)

[MMC]

Click to read more...

 

[dalewood12]

Seemed like a matter of time. This might make the Toronto PWHL team's hunt for a new arena more challenging.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I was legitimately under the impression that Toronto already had a WNBA team. Shows how little I know.

 

[rojac]

Seemed like a matter of time. This might make the Toronto PWHL team's hunt for a new arena more challenging.

The WNBA season runs from mid-May to mid-October (including playoffs). The PWHL is planning to start in November and I suspect will wrap up before mid-May.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

https://x.com/fos/status/1788901970641617142?s=46&t=yo4pTA9AP0Y_r5X2X9OIZA

 

[LadyStanley]

WNBA reportedly awarding Toronto an expansion franchise to begin play in 2026

Toronto will be the WNBA's 14th team when it enters the league.

sports.yahoo.com

Beginning play in 2026

 

[End on a Hinote]

That's great news but many years over due. And call me biased but the league should seriously look into Vancouver as well. No doubt it will succeed there, as well.

 

[joelef]

They’ll win a cup before the leafs

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[GKJ]

That's great news but many years over due. And call me biased but the league should seriously look into Vancouver as well. No doubt it will succeed there, as well.

The WNBA is the one league on the planet where there’s not enough teams for all the talent. They could expand by 6-8 teams (at least) tomorrow and be perfectly fine. I suspect with this women’s sports boom, there will be quick expansion.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Neat, hope they do well.

How about the Toronto Towers?

 

[Takuto Maruki]

The WNBA is the one league on the planet where there’s not enough teams for all the talent. They could expand by 6-8 teams (at least) tomorrow and be perfectly fine. I suspect with this women’s sports boom, there will be quick expansion.

If they don't capitalize with Clark bringing in the bacon by expanding rapidly from this point on, they need to pack it in. Thankfully, the brass realize the golden opportunity they've been handed, and they can be significantly more aggressive in terms of expansion from this point on.

 

[GKJ]

If they don't capitalize with Clark bringing in the bacon by expanding rapidly from this point on, they need to pack it in. Thankfully, the brass realize the golden opportunity they've been handed, and they can be significantly more aggressive in terms of expansion from this point on.

They’ve already been working towards that. The league is on good footing, Caitlin Clark isn’t taking things from bad to good, she’s hopefully taking them from good to great. If Caitlin Clark decided tomorrow that she’s going to become a recluse monk and go live in a mountain cave and never plays again, the league would still be fine and still be in need of a rapid growth phase. Just maybe not as quick.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Seemed like a matter of time. This might make the Toronto PWHL team's hunt for a new arena more challenging.

How so?

 

[GKJ]

They’ve already been working towards that. The league is on good footing, Caitlin Clark isn’t taking things from bad to good, she’s hopefully taking them from good to great. If Caitlin Clark decided tomorrow that she’s going to become a recluse monk and go live in a mountain cave and never plays again, the league would still be fine and still be in need of a rapid growth phase. Just maybe not as quick.

Just to highlight further to this, we went through a nationally televised draft where 36 players were picked and only 13 made their teams. There’s some players whose rights are held overseas, but this was the generational draft. It’s not unusual for first round picks to get cut loose. There’s not enough seats at the table.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

How so?

Yeah...Toronto PWHL is at the moment not at all worried considering they're technically based out of Mattamy, and have only taken over Coca-Cola Coliseum for the last few regular season games and the playoffs. Unless TMU decides to kick them out, I doubt they're that worried about losing a home if they decide to make CCC full time.

 

[LadyStanley]

Toronto awarded WNBA's first franchise outside US, with expansion team set to begin play in 2026

Toronto has been awarded the WNBA’s first franchise outside the United States, with the expansion team set to begin play in 2026. Larry Tanenbaum-led Kilmer Sports Ventures is paying $115 million for the team. Tanenbaum also is the chairman and a minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and...

sports.yahoo.com

Official announcement coming today.

Seems like one of the few growth opportunities is women's sports.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1793636083374399634

I do hope it works. It surprises me that for as many women's hockey leagues that have cropped up over the past five years or so, none of them aside from the CWHL went further west then Calgary. Unless the PWHL has something up their sleeve in that regard (and I hope they do) then this serves not only as a test run for potential NBA in Vancouver interest, but also a barometer for women's sports interest in Vancouver overall.

 

[BKIslandersFan]