TORONTO, – The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced today that it has expanded to Canada by awarding Toronto an expansion team, the league’s first outside the United States. The new team will begin play in the 2026 season as the WNBA’s 14th franchise.
The team will be owned and operated by Kilmer Sports Ventures. Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of Kilmer Sports Ventures and a 30-year veteran of building championship-caliber teams, is also Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors and Chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, MLS’ Toronto FC and other professional sports franchises. Under his leadership, the Raptors won their first NBA championship in 2019.
“Bringing a WNBA team to Toronto represents an important milestone for our league as we continue to expand both domestically and outside the United States,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “With Larry Tanenbaum’s distinguished record of leading successful sports franchises and Toronto’s appeal as a dynamic, diverse city that cares deeply about the game of basketball, we are confident that this new team will thrive as a first-class WNBA organization and become a great source of inspiration and support for the Toronto-area community and across Canada.”
“Today is a game-changing day not only for women’s basketball but also for sports in Canada,” said Tanenbaum. “This franchise will be Canada’s team, and we are so excited to unite the country and inspire pride and passion in fans from coast to coast.”
The team will play its home games at historic Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto. It is expected that additional games may be played at Scotiabank Arena and across Canada. The team has also committed to building a new, state-of-the-art practice facility that will be dedicated to the team and community initiatives.
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