With the help of the NBA Canada staff, the WNBA landed 15 marketing partners for the preseason clash. It also quickly passed the second: the ability to find substantial sponsor support. The upcoming game sold out 19,800 tickets within minutes, the league says. Toronto, Canada’s biggest city, aced the first test of fan interest. Earlier this year, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said expansion remains two to four years away.Īll the while, Toronto has remained a strong contender, and this weekend’s preseason showdown could be the proving ground the city needs to seal its bid for a franchise. What was two expansion teams has now become one what the league says started as a list of 100 potential cities for new teams was narrowed to a dozen, then to 10, and now is back up to 20. The WNBA initially intended to announce to two new teams by the end of 2022 to begin play as early as 2024, but the league’s logistics have changed several times. There are also several players in the league from the Great White North, including the Minnesota Lynx’s Natalie Achonwa.īut despite two years of fielding interest and doing its due diligence on interested bidders, actual expansion plans remain elusive. Average regular-season Canadian viewership of the W’s games has increased by more than 95% over the past three years, the league says. The ownership group has sufficient capital and was given the infrastructure stamp of approval from the WNBA, and the city can tout an audience of about 5 to 6 million WNBA fans nationally (or about a quarter of the 22 million total NBA/WNBA fans in the country), according to NBA Canada. Toronto is a likely landing spot for the WNBA’s first expansion franchise since 2008 with backers including New Media Group and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment-which owns the city’s NBA, NHL, MLS, AHL and CFL teams, along with venues including Scotiabank Arena.
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