The WNBA is officially expanding to Canada, with Toronto being announced earlier today as an expansion team for the 2026 WNBA season, according to TSN.ca. The 6ix’s squad is the first WNBA expansion team to be announced since the Golden State Valkyries, who are set to begin competition in 2025. A team name for the newly announced Toronto franchise is still yet to be decided.
WNBA Continues to Grow
The WNBA has been having a historic 2024 season in regards to fan attendance and ratings. According to Associated Press, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark and LSU superstar Angel Reese have each been main attractions for the WNBA. Clark and the Indiana Fever’s season debut against the Connecticut Sun was the most-viewed WNBA contest on ESPN ever.
Now, with women’s basketball at its peak in popularity, the WNBA expands to the largest city in Canada. Despite a crowded rotation of sports teams in T.O., such as the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Maple Leafs, marketing professor Tandy Thomas at Queen’s University claims that Toronto’s WNBA squad will offer more affordable tickets to fans in comparison to the likes of the Maple Leafs and Raptors (according to CTVnews.ca).
Sell-Out Preseason Games Contribute to Toronto Receiving WNBA Squad
There have been preseason games played in Canada for two consecutive seasons in the cities of Toronto, ON, and Edmonton, AB. On May 13, 2023, a contest between the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx took place at a sold-out Scotiabank Arena. On May 4, 2024, another preseason game between the Seattle Storm and Los Angeles Sparks began at Rogers Place in Edmonton in front of a sell-out crowd. 16,555 fans showed up, in fact, to watch the WNBA action, according to edmontonjournal.com.
Highly-Anticipated 2026 Season
Basketball is beginning to have a substantial influence on the city of Toronto, with the Raptors winning the city’s most recent title in the Big 4 US Sports and now the WNBA expanding to T.O. Fans can begin to prepare for an eagerly-awaited 2026 WNBA season with women’s basketball continuing to grow in popularity.