Toronto granted a new WNBA team and to begin play in 2026

[AlbertC]

Report: Toronto granted WNBA franchise, to begin play in 2026 | TSN

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says that she is hopeful for an announcement soon amid reports that the city is getting a WNBA team.

www.tsn.ca

The WNBA is reportedly coming to Toronto.

Led by Toronto billionaire and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum, Kilmer Sports Inc. has been granted an expansion franchise by the WNBA and will begin play two seasons from now in May of 2026, according to Shireen Ahmed of CBC Sports.

According to Ahmed, Toronto’s 8,000-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum will serve as the franchise’s home arena.

Last year, Scotiabank Arena was sold out when it hosted Canada's first ever preseason game and last weekend Rogers Place in Edmonton hosted another preseason tilt in front of a capacity crowd.

The WNBA currently has 12 teams, with a San Francisco-based expansion franchise to push the league to 13 teams next seasons. Toronto's franchise will be the first WNBA team outside of the United States.

Tanenbaum, 79, is also the minority owner of MLSE, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto Marlies.

Former European soccer executive Ivan Gazidis and Teresa Resch, who previously worked with the Raptors as vice president of basketball operations, are both now working for Kilmer Sports Inc.

 

[Towered]

 

[afransen]

I'm not excited, but I think more events is a good thing, especially if they are more affordable for fans than our over-subscribed NHL and NBA teams.

 

[AlbertC]

Would be something if the new WNBA team can win a championship before the Leafs do in their respective leagues

 

[gabe]

Report: Toronto granted WNBA franchise, to begin play in 2026 | TSN

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says that she is hopeful for an announcement soon amid reports that the city is getting a WNBA team.

www.tsn.ca

The WNBA is reportedly coming to Toronto.

Led by Toronto billionaire and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum, Kilmer Sports Inc. has been granted an expansion franchise by the WNBA and will begin play two seasons from now in May of 2026, according to Shireen Ahmed of CBC Sports.

According to Ahmed, Toronto’s 8,000-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum will serve as the franchise’s home arena.

Last year, Scotiabank Arena was sold out when it hosted Canada's first ever preseason game and last weekend Rogers Place in Edmonton hosted another preseason tilt in front of a capacity crowd.

The WNBA currently has 12 teams, with a San Francisco-based expansion franchise to push the league to 13 teams next seasons. Toronto's franchise will be the first WNBA team outside of the United States.

Tanenbaum, 79, is also the minority owner of MLSE, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto Marlies.

Former European soccer executive Ivan Gazidis and Teresa Resch, who previously worked with the Raptors as vice president of basketball operations, are both now working for Kilmer Sports Inc.

Wnba is boring to watch. It's like watching elementary school kids play. But i will say, its still more exiting to watch than soccer lol

 

[Northern Light]

Wnba is boring to watch. It's like watching elementary school kids play.

I'm not really a sports-watching person. Just not my thing, but I fail to see why basketball played by elite level female players would be substantially more boring than the male player product.

The only substantive difference I can think of is that the players are shorter on average, so I assume there are fewer dunks.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Fans had plenty of ideas for what to name Toronto’s new WNBA team. Will ‘Game of Thrones’ be a factor?

More than 5,000 suggestions were submitted before Wednesday’s deadline, with 64 per cent offering potential team names, 21 per cent for the preferred colours and 15 per cent were for inspiration stories.

www.thestar.com

What about the Toronto Beavers?

Official symbols of Canada - Canada.ca

Read about the flags, arms and other symbols that have received official designation by the Government of Canada.

www.canada.ca

It's been an official symbol of Canada since 1975.

 

[AlbertC]

Fans had plenty of ideas for what to name Toronto’s new WNBA team. Will ‘Game of Thrones’ be a factor?

More than 5,000 suggestions were submitted before Wednesday’s deadline, with 64 per cent offering potential team names, 21 per cent for the preferred colours and 15 per cent were for inspiration stories.

www.thestar.com

What about the Toronto Beavers?

Official symbols of Canada - Canada.ca

Read about the flags, arms and other symbols that have received official designation by the Government of Canada.

www.canada.ca

It's been an official symbol of Canada since 1975.

That name will never fly, especially when you consider the slang meaning for it...

 

[Towered]

That name will never fly, especially when you consider the slang meaning for it...

But that's the whole point - irreverent humour!

 

[Mihairokov]

Fans Suspect WNBA Spoiled Toronto Expansion Franchise Team Name

Many within the women's basketball community have their alarms set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, December 6, as that marks the Golden State Valkyries WNBA Expansi

www.si.com

Tempo is the assumed name, but could also be a temporary holder.

Coliseum is getting busy now with AHL, PWHL, and WNBA tenants...

 

[Admiral Beez]

Tempo? That sounds dumb, and will remind many of the tempo car shelters that are erected across Quebec every winter.

Buy a new shelter

Buy a new shelter

www.abristempo.com

That name will never fly, especially when you consider the slang meaning for it...

There are other women’s teams thus named.

2024–25 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Towered]

I've always been partial to the name "Towers" - it's not used by any other team, it reflects the imposing physical stature of basketball players, and inspires lofty, "reach for the sky" ambitions. It was originally being touted as the name for our NBA team before it got changed to the Raptors, which disappointed me at the time. Now we have another chance.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Towers...was originally being touted as the name for our NBA team before it got changed to the Raptors, which disappointed me at the time. Now we have another chance.

I've always thought Raptors was a stupid name, and I blame Spielberg and the zeitgeist-chasing Bitove for putting that into our nomenclature.

Look at the other NBA team names: Bucks, Bulls, Cavaliers, Celtics, Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Mavericks, Nets, Knicks, Pacers, Pelicans, Pistons, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, Thunder, Timberwolves, Blazers, Warriors, Wizards, 76ers, Hornets, Magic, Nuggets. There are some other bad ones, what's a Nugget? Denver's team name was chosen by a contest... which is how you end up with Boaty McBoat Face. But there are others that are evocative, like the Pistons, Rockets, and Bulls.

Apparently Toronto was also considering the name T-Rex, which would have been even worse.

 

[tripwire]

Tempo for some reason makes me think of the Ford Tempo - which was not a great car.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Tempo for some reason makes me think of the Ford Tempo - which was not a great car.

I forgot about the Ford Tempo. I remember on my first work trip to Germany in 1997 as a newly graduated international business student and seeing the superlative (for its time) Ford Focus and thinking why the heck are we North Americans stuck with the Tempo and its rubbish Contour successor? The first gen focus below looks dated now, but compared to the Tempo below it was a spaceship.