Official: Toronto Is Getting A WNBA Team - Press Conference Today link pg 9

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Women's professional basketball is coming to Toronto.

CBC Sports has learned that Kilmer Sports Inc., headed by Toronto billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, has been granted an expansion franchise with the Women's National Basketball Association.

An announcement is expected May 23 in Toronto, with the team to begin play in May 2026, according to four people with knowledge of the deal but who are not authorized to speak about it.

Tanenbaum is a minority owner and chairman of sporting giant Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment which owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, TFC, Argos and Marlies.

The 79-year-old originally pursued the expansion team through MLSE, but it was turned down by other members of the board.

The WNBA recently expanded to 13 teams with San Francisco-based Golden State to begin play next year, and commissioner Cathy Englebert said in April Toronto was among the cities being considered as the 14th team.

In a statement, Courtney Glen, vice president of public affairs and communications for the Kilmer Group, said the organization has "no update at this time."

A WNBA spokesperson said: "We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets but have no news to report at this time."

A source said the team would play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, an 8,000-seat arena at Toronto's CNE grounds which is home to the Marlies and where Toronto's Professional Women's Hockey League franchise is currently playing its first playoff series.

Professional women's sports has been on the rise in Canada with the formation of the PWHL that has two other Canadian franchises in Ottawa and Montreal, as well as a new women's soccer league that is expected to begin play in 2025.

A year ago, Toronto's Scotiabank Arena sold out for the WNBA's first pre-season game in Canada and on Saturday, more than 16,000 tickets were sold for a game in Edmonton's Rogers Place.

The league recently held its amateur draft, with NCAA star Caitlin Clark going first overall to the Indiana Fever.

Kilmer Sports Inc. is a new arm of Tanenbaum's Kilmer Group, and it has hired former European soccer executive Ivan Gazidis to lead the new group. Teresa Resch is also part of the new organization after leaving her job with the Raptors as vice president of basketball operations.

[Kingsway_fan]

Fantastic!!! Even though I no longer live in Toronto... I love the move. Oh, and fk you Rogers....

[MavCarter]

God bless Larry T

[mtcan]

I had hoped that Larry T would buy the Raptors and sever our ties to the Rogers family.

But I can't wait to see us tanking for female Giannis or KD or Wemby...

[WuTang_OG]

This is good. WNBA is growing and will help women basketball here

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[Smalltown]

Larry!

This is huge for women's basketball it Canada. It's huge for grassroots Basketball in Canada. Haven't been this excited since 1993.

[Los_29]

Incredible news. This will help grow the game even more here in Canada.

[maternal85]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

[Yallbecrazy]

How is Larry Tenenbaum so awesome and smart and Ed Rogers such an idiot/ villain? It's almost cartoonish.

[Yallbecrazy]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

It will be

[Gavin_TDThree]

that's sickkkkk! It'll do wonders for growing the sports in Toronto and Canada

[maternal85]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

It will be

So it currently isn't?

[Smalltown]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

It will be

So it currently isn't?

"Following the 2025 season, the WNBA's broadcast media rights deal will expire and a new one will be negotiated. The WNBA's current deal brings in about $60 million a year with games nationally televised on ABC and ESPN platforms, Amazon Prime Video, NBATV, CBS Sports and ION."

This is the reason it had to get done now. The next deal should blow by these numbers and with it franchise valuations are going to jump substantially.

[dTox]

Well done Larry T. I just had a daughter for the very first time in Feb, this made my day.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[ruckus]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

It will be

So it currently isn't?

Just some rough calculations:

The average attendance is around 5,600. The arena where the new team will play holds 8,000. Each team gets around 20 home games. I have a feeling most games, at least early.on, will be sold out due to the novelty. But even at average attendance, with average ticket prices of $47us, thats annual revenue of $5.2m usd not including concessions. The average wnba roster is $1.2m usd. That leaves around $4m to cover operations.

Most wnba teams probably aren't turning a profit but I'm sure it's a tad easier in markets like NY, LA and Chicago. And we all know that the nba subsidizes the wnba. I really don't see a downside to having a wnba team in toronto.

[SpezNc]

Fantastic news

This is the news I have been waiting for .

Have been refreshing WNBA Toronto in twitter in the past month .

Can’t wait

I will definitely travel to Toronto once in a while to see a game !

The weather will be warmer for WNBA

[TheFutureMM]

I think this has potential. The WNBA as a league needs 10 more Caitlin Clarks - I ended up watching a ton of WNCAA March Madness mainly because of her.

[Boardbreaker]

Will win a championship before the leafs do

[Kingsway_fan]

So owning a WNBA franchise must be profitable ?

It will be

So it currently isn't?

So you invest looking in the rear view mirror... or do you visualize going forward? One thing is certain.mm franchise values seem to grow exponentially, over time...

[DemHeavyHands]

If I’m not mistaken Juju Watkins would be eligible for the 2027 draft, which would be the team’s 2nd season and likely a lottery team

Load up the tWo for Juju