The WNBA Is Coming to Toronto—and Vancouver and Montreal

May 23, 2024

Toronto was officially named as the home of the league’s 14th franchise Thursday. The yet-unnamed team will be the league’s first outside the United States and second in a recent wave of expansion. It will begin playing in the 2026 season under owner Larry Tanenbaum of Kilmer Sports Ventures. Tanenbaum is the chairman of Kilmer Sports Ventures and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Raptors, Maple Leafs, and Toronto FC, among other franchises.

The team will play at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in downtown Toronto, with additional games scheduled at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Raptors and Maple Leafs, as well as in Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver used to be home to the NBA’s Grizzlies before the team moved to Memphis in 2001. FOS